Re-Alignment
by Culper Sr
Summary: AU Anko is pressed to finally take on her first Genin team at a crucial time just as the third Hokage is given an interesting arsenal to work against the threat of the Akatsuki.
1. Genin

**Chapter 1: Genin**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hello all, first crack at a Naruto fic I'm hoping I can manage to write the level I expect of myself. This story is basically an AU where there are some rather big changes that completely change the story in comparison to canon. We'll start from the very beginning of Naruto (Well, more like episode 3 or 4 but whatever) here but we won't spend** ** _too_** **much time on this time period where the characters are in the early stages of being Genin… I promise.**

 **But I'd rather not sit here and discuss spoiler topics in the FIRST author's note lol… Hope you enjoy**

 ** _UPDATE: 1/4/16 This chapter has been renovated, it's possible in the early chapters there will be A/N statements that don't match up because I've fixed a thing or two in addition to adding to the length. Please keep in mind that early chapters are not an accurate reflection of the quality of writing as you get further in. So I ask everyone to be patient in the beginning. Thanks_**

 ***DISCLAIMER* I do not own Naruto, or characters from Naruto… obviously. I own nothing but the storyline in what you read throughout Re-Alignment and that I cannot profit… this is and will be the only disclaimer, cause I always forget to post the fucking thing.**

Shikamaru sighed as he passed through the doorway of his class in the academy, hands in pockets, looking less than excited even though this was the big day. Iruka-sensei was going to reveal the squads each ninja graduate was assigned to by the Hokage himself. He passed by Sakura and Ino practically ready to beat each other to a pulp arguing over who was going to be on Sasuke's team… as if they really had any idea how they were divided up. _Women… Willing to fight over what they don't know anything about._ Unlike his female classmates, Shikamaru had absolutely no interest in being paired with Sasuke… hell he'd rather be paired with _Naruto_ than the last member of the Uchiha.

Yes Naruto was exuberant… zealous, mouthy and overbearing most of the time despite not even being able to make a simple clone properly. And despite his reputation, lack of popularity and history of causing trouble for civilians throughout the village… He was at least a nice person for the most part. There was a lot left to be desired in the skills department there, but Shika acknowledged the blonde Uzumaki would at least work hard and stand with his team, whereas Sasuke hardly struck him as a team player.

Sasuke sat idly with his hands folded together, not aware of the eyes gazing at him due to being preoccupied with ignoring several fangirls. Shikamaru held disdain for his attitude and tendency to put off the ' _I'm better than you'_ vibe, which was bound to harm his squad's teamwork compatibility. If he was paying either of the two crushes arguing in front of him, there was no evidence in his expressions. Of course, he typically only spoke when he _had_ to… or to berate _losers_ … which were usually Naruto. Although, in Sasuke's defense, Naruto usually started their verbal engagements.

The sight of orange stopped the Nara cold on his way to a seat by his best friend, Choji. "Naruto? What are you doing here, this is for people who graduated… You can't be here right now."

"Oi, you see this?" Naruto tapped his headband with the Leaf insignia. "I passed!"

Shikamaru momentarily raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off and proceeded to his seat, putting the Uzumaki and Uchiha out of his mind to consider other potential teammates he could possibly be paired up with.

Sakura or Ino in his opinion would be extremely annoying. _Especially_ if Sasuke was his other teammate. Then there was Shino, the Aburame prospect. Shikamaru didn't have anything against him, but found him rather cryptic and odd; he would rather have a nice average and simple balance on his team with no eccentricities or dramatic tendencies.

He scanned the room eying each classmate that graduated and decided that the only one he truly felt his that description was the one he beside him, Choji. Perhaps Kiba, though arrogant and prideful… Hinata's shyness was his only concern with him. All in all, he knew that no matter what… it was highly likely that the transition from students in the academy to four-man Genin (plus a Jonin-sensei) squad would wind up a total drag. He sighed again as Naruto got smacked by both Ino and Sakura after he attempted to interfere with their pointless argument taking an opportunity to take a shot at Sasuke… which the females predictably didn't like.

"Settle down everyone. And take a seat if you haven't already," Iruka ordered as he suddenly appeared in the center of the room in a poof of smoke.

Naruto, Ino and Sakura complied… though there was somewhat of a battle between the latter two over who got to sit with Sasuke. _So annoying… if I get Sasuke AND one of them, I'm going to apply for civilian status before the training even starts._

Iruka began going through a mini-speech about the squads but Shikamaru didn't feel the need to listen until he announced the actual squads. As a Nara, Shikamaru was well exposed to concepts far beyond something as simple as the purpose and need of operating in squads. It didn't make sense that anyone in the room wouldn't know that much at the very least. _Can't we get on with this already._

"Now, I will announce each of the squads, one member of your squad will be handed a piece of paper that gives the name of your Jonin, as well as the time and place to meet with them," Iruka declared.

Everyone in the room, including Shikamaru was now on the edge of their seat. _Please pair with Sasuke!_ Sakura inwardly obsessed.

 _Anyone but Sasuke, anyone but Sasuke!_ Naruto thought in contradiction.

 _As long as they don't put me with Naruto I think we'll be good with whoever. I can't believe that fool graduated._ Kiba suppressed a snort.

 _I wonder if I'll be teamed with… Naruto…_ Hinata meanwhile considered.

Funnily enough, every soon to be shinobi in the room had at least one person they didn't want to work with, but ultimately held no control of the matter.

"Squad One: Hinata, Choji, and Shino," Iruka named off a few more squads before reaching the one the Nara actually cared about.

"Squad Six: Shikamaru, Naruto and Kiba."

 _What a drag…_ Shikamaru thought.

 _Of all the people why did it have to be him!?_ Kiba thought as his eyes narrowed on Naruto.

 _But Shikamaru's sooo lazy!_ Naruto inwardly complained.

"Squad Seven: Sakura, Sasuke," The pinkette's eyes twinkled in victory and she actually cheered aloud to the Uchiha's immediate annoyance who just huffed. "—And Ino."

"WHAT?" Ino/Sakura blurted. Shikamaru couldn't help laugh at that one.

 _Unbelievable…_ Sasuke groaned in his head, glaring at Iruka as if it was his fault.

Iruka handed Naruto the slip with the directions to meet their new sensei, and then another to Sasuke before he finished naming off the other squads. The newly assembled team six rallied together interested in where things would go from there. "Anko Mitarashi," Kiba voiced aloud. "I'm not familiar with that name," he then added.

"Me either. But if she's a Jonin she must be highly skilled," Shikamaru mused. Naruto watched his companions in silence having nothing to say. He wasn't thrilled with the teammates that were chosen for him, but at least he didn't have to deal with Sasuke every day now.

Kiba glanced at the clock. "That's twenty minutes from now," he realized.

"Then we better get going. Come on Naruto," Shikamaru invited.

"Right," Naruto nodded, slightly surprised neither of his fellow Genin had a sarcastic complaint about being on the same squad as him.

 _Naruto and Shikamaru…_ Kiba grumbled in his head. _The two class leaders in falling asleep, how lame._

* * *

 _Elsewhere…_

"You really shouldn't be seen here out in the open like this sensei," Anko advised.

Orochimaru, standing tall in a black cloak with a formation of red clouds dispersed through its fabric and a leaf handband with a slash through it to signify being a 'Rogue ninja.' He merely chuckled at the suggestion. "This relay will only take a moment my dear," he assured. "There are no shinobi nearby at this time." Orochimaru had used a shadow clone and transformation jutsu to send a snake across the Hidden Leaf searching for clues that lead him to the whereabouts of his former pupil. It took time, but proved fruitful in the end. "It's come to my attention that Saratobi-sensei has convinced you to finally take on students of your own. Anko my dear, you're making me feel _old," he_ joked playfully.

It was the information that he stumbled upon about Anko becoming a squad leader to a group of newly graduated Genin that gave the Snake Sannin a hunch he could find her out in this particular training ground, the very same that he had once brought her to for training years ago.

Anko smirked. "I admit I'm not really the model choice for a mentor, but Lord Hokage has been encouraging me to try and leave my mark on the next generation. If me having students makes you feel old… that's just a bonus."

Orochimaru chuckled again. He missed his former student, his assignment was proving to be well worth it, and he knew very few leaf shinobi other than him were equipped for the task, but it was frustrating to deal with being exiled from the village hidden in the leaves, mission or not.

"Those Genin will be here soon; sorry but we don't have any more time for chit chat sensei."

Orochimaru's hand went through his long dark strands of hair, moving them out of his way and he nodded his face portrayed a more serious expression. His other hand pulled a scroll from inside his Akatsuki cloak. "This scroll contains all the information I have to deliver this time," he stated, holding it out to Anko.

She reached out to grab it but Orochimaru didn't let go. "After Sarutobi-sensei and the others read the scroll, I need you to deliver a special piece of information to be kept between you and him _only_ , _"_ he emphasized.

She raised an eyebrow after he released the scroll from his grip. "Why?"

Suddenly, the Snake Sannin ducked for cover behind a tree and Anko realized that the Genin were just a couple paces away from clearing the forest. _They're early._ She thought.

"Hey!" An adolescent shouted out. "Are you Anko Mitarashi?" It was unmistakably Naruto, the ninetails' Jinchuriki in his unique orange outfit. All three of the new shinobi were scrutinizing the figure they believed was their new sensei.

After a strange and awkward pause she regained her composure. "Yep!" She shouted back. "Kiba Shikamaru and Naruto I presume… a pleasure." _What the hell do we do…_ Knowing she couldn't expect them to just stay as distant as they were and felt it was best to not act strange she decided to just invite them over and waved for them to get closer. _Orochimaru is more than capable enough to remain hidden from a bunch of Genin._ She reassured herself.

Her eyes moved from squad six to her mentor who was giving her hand signals that the two of them have been using for many many years.

"Uh… Anko-sensei… what are you looking at?" Naruto asked.

Anko watched Orochimaru finish and then his shadow clone transformed back into a snake. She then turned her attention back to her students barring what his hand signals said in mind. "Oh uh… nothing, don't concern yourself with it," she replied.

Akamaru barked twice. "What's that boy?" Kiba whispered to his four legged companion.

Naruto appeared skeptical, gazing at her with a squint. "Nothing huh..?" He muttered, deadpanned. "Sure seemed like more than nothing! People normally don't choose to stare at a tree when they're meeting someone new."

"Hate to side with Naruto but Akamaru told me he detected a second scent," Kiba announced.

 _Damn. Forgot about that Inuzuka shit._ Anko thought, recalling his lineage.

Anko narrowed her eyes on the three of them. "It is none of your concern. I am aware that I chose the time and place of our meeting… but I'm afraid this will have to wait. Meet me here again same time tomorrow. Then we'll get down to business."

"Tomorrow!?" Naruto flustered. "That's pretty lame, having a sensei that just brushes off her new team right after we all just met!"

Shikamaru studied her throughout this conflict. Something was going on, something of importance that she couldn't talk about with the Genin. It was much like the times when his dad, Shikaku would either ask certain people to leave the room or he would excuse himself to talk alone with a high ranking Jonin or an ANBU.

"Not to mention she's already hiding things from us," Kiba added.

"Guys," Shikamaru interrupted. "Drop it. She's a Jonin," he reminded. "If she could include us in whatever it is that's going on, she would do so… Let's not forget we're the lowest of all the ninja in the village. Genin on our first day."

Kiba and Naruto registered his point and conceded. Anko smiled at the Nara. Having him on her squad was a blessing. "Like I said, same time tomorrow. It can't be helped," she waved and took off.

 _Orochimaru's signals indicated the four Hokage. Which can only mean his clone will await me at the four carvings._ She smiled at that. Her sensei didn't make it too complicated of a riddle for her to interpret, she would arrive long before the clone ran out of chakra and dispelled.

* * *

The three Genin decided to get some ramen at a place Naruto suggested. It was the same place he had recently been introduced to by Iruka. "Hey, Shikamaru?" Kiba started.

"What is it?" His lazy teammate replied without looking up from his food.

"Aren't you at all bothered that Anko-sensei just sort of… brushed us off?" Naruto looked up from his second bowl interested in where this conversation was going.

"Nah… It's something we just have to get used to. We've made ninja, that is true... But the higher ranking more experienced adults will still keep things from us just as they have throughout our whole lives. Even someday many years from now, if we were Jonin, there would be things we're left in the dark about. It's a drag… but it's common in the ninja world. My dad taught me as much," He explained.

Naruto considered what he said and immediately thought of the ninetailed Kyuubi sealed inside him. He had only so recently found out about that… even though it directly involved him. _Shikamaru's right, if the old man and every ninja in the village can hide that I have a demon inside me for twelve years… Who knows what kind of stuff they keep from the village for all kinds of different reasons._

Kiba sighed in understanding. "So I guess we should just call what happened today bad timing?"

"Pretty much yeah; whatever involved her wasn't expected or she wouldn't have chosen that time to meet us, that's why I think we should just lay off of her, because I don't think it's her fault."

"All right…" Kiba agreed. "What do you say, Naruto?" Naruto's mouth was full of ramen so he just nodded in agreement and silently noted that Kiba actually included him even though he was pretty sure Kiba wasn't one of his biggest fans. Over the years the two had done all sorts of pranks on one another and when that got old they had competitions of who could prank other people better than the other but they weren't anywhere near friends.

Swallowing Naruto decided to throw in some input of his own, "It's probably not a good idea to start everything out by being mad at our sensei for doing her job."

"Yeah I guess you guys are right… Well, I think we're gonna head home," he indicated Akamaru. "See you guys tomorrow…" he paused and smirked. "Team six." Naruto and Shikamaru smirked back and with that and bid them farewell.

"Naruto…"

The blonde pushed his third empty bowl aside and dragged the next one closer as he replied, "Yeah?"

"What changed? How were you able to graduate?" Naruto's new, curious teammate asked.

Apparently, Naruto took it the wrong way because he glared at Shikamaru as he shouted, "Why? Wondering why you have to put up with the _dead last_?" The offended Naruto emphasized.

 _So defensive over a question… This whole new team stuff is going to be such a pain…_ "Whatever, don't answer if you don't want to… I was just wondering," The Nara neutrally replied.

Naruto blinked and softened a bit, he wasn't used to people asking him something out of curiosity. There were only a handful of people he had in his life that were nice to him and had his trust. That thought made him realize he needed to answer… This was one of his teammates now, and he needed to make friends, even though he would probably need some time to trust them that way.

* * *

The Hokage and a small group of his most trusted Jonin gathered around the scroll Anko delivered to him. Anko and the third Hokage stood in the middle, with Asuma Sarutobi to their left. Ebisu, the Jonin instructor of the 'honorable grandson' Konohamaru stood to the right with Hiashi, clan leader of the Hyuga as the final shinobi among the group.

"This is most troubling…" Sarutobi broke the silence.

"Yes, the acquisition of the terrorist bomber Deidara bolsters the threat even more." Ebisu agreed.

"What bothers me," Asuma started, releasing some smoke. "Is that since they operate in twos, we don't actually know all that much about what the other members on the Akatsuki's roster are capable of. And with Orochimaru's 'partner' being Itachi… that is pretty unhelpful to that matter. A list of names and some bingo book reviews are only going to help us so much…"

"Indeed," Hiashi agreed. "It will be more difficult to stop such a powerful organization of rogue shinobi without with limited information on their capabilities. And if Orochimaru's claim that they wish to capture all of the Jinchuriki is true we are facing a much more serious problem than we previously believed."

"Speaking of Jinchuriki…" Hiruzen brought up. "Naruto is a member of Anko's team. I'm putting his safety in her and Orochimaru's hands. It seemed like the logical move having the former apprentice of our spy and his primary contact within the village be our Jinchuriki's overseer. The others nodded in understanding.

"What about the rest of the village, are we ready to tell them about the Akatsuki?" Anko asked.

"Hmm… if we do, we do not tell them about Orochimaru," Sarutobi replied thoughtfully.

"It would be hard to explain how we got the detailed information without admitting we had a spy…" Ebisu argued.

"That is true," Asuma backed him up.

"So we all agree for the time being, we keep our knowledge of the Akatsuki a secret?" Hiashi offered.

All agreed and Sarutobi dismissed them. Each of the shinobi filed out with the exception of Anko. "Is something the matter?" The Hokage asked, grabbing his pipe.

"Orochimaru had a separate message to convey to you that he requested be kept between us alone."

Sarutobi scratched his beard in thought. This was a surprise to him but he gestured her to go on. "He wished to warn you that both he and Itachi would be visiting the hidden leaf soon."

"What!?" The Third Hokage cringed.

"He told me he'd be sure to secretly contact me while in the village and said he has a plan to bring Itachi after Danzo. Apparently Itachi has an arrangement with Danzo but doesn't actually trust him, and he is going to use some of the lies surrounding his exile to direct everything to Danzo being the man who exposed Orochimaru's 'illegal activities' that we staged."

 _I better watch my tongue… neither Orochimaru nor Anko know the sad truth of Itachi Uchiha._ The third Hokage reminded himself.

"A good plan… Though you don't understand, Orochimaru is trying to use his current affiliation with the Akatsuki to solve the problem Danzo poses for the hidden leaf."

Anko blinked. "What?"

"Danzo is a power hungry village elder that we suspect is preparing to make a push for becoming the next Hokage… even if he has to have me assassinated or perhaps even make a deal with a rival village to enact war on our village. Orochimaru sees Itachi as a tool to solve that problem even if Itachi doesn't realize what's actually going on."

"Isn't allowing Itachi kill a village elder an extreme method? Not that I'm all that surprised my sensei would come up with a scheme like that."

"We don't _have_ to allow it. Orochimaru is giving me a set of cards to play with. Some people are born with a true gift at manipulating people. Such a gift is what makes your sensei so good at infiltration missions like the one is on right now." Sarutobi smiled. "Even while being technically exiled, he is trying to solve a problem back home."

"Oh… I thought the idea was that Itachi would be in our village and we could take him out," Anko suggested.

 _It would pain me so much for that to happen…_ Sarutobi thought inwardly, knowing everything Itachi had truly gone through. "That option is there as well, but Orochimaru likely accounted for the fact we could hit two birds with one stone if we choose. He kept this quiet not only so the others would not know about his idea to deal with Danzo but also to make sure his and Itachi's arrival in the village truly was a surprise to everyone. His cover would likely be blown otherwise," He explained to the young Jonin.

"Not to mention," The Hokage scratched his chin. "Orochimaru doesn't know who to trust when it comes to Danzo. Loyalties between him and I are divisive throughout the village."

* * *

Two tall men donning black cloaks with red clouds on them walked side by side in a forest in silence. Orochimaru's clone had dispelled three hours ago, and in those three hours no words had been shared between himself and his partner. Itachi Uchiha was on guard, although he was content with silence, it was unlike his partner to not comment on a single thing for that long. After awhile, he concluded Orochimaru was up to something, it was only a matter of time…

"Why don't we pay Danzo a visit, Itachi?" The two of them halted their leisurely slow walk as he voiced that idea, and Orochimaru awaited some form of a reaction. "Well?" He stated impatiently.

Itachi slowly rotated to face his Akatsuki partner and to the Snake Sannin's shock he found himself staring right into the Mangekyou Sharingan. Caught in Itachi's genjutsu, there was little the Sannin could do but try to break free. This, was the Tsukuyomi.

 _"_ _What is the meaning of this?" Orochimaru rasped, prepared to fight._

 _"_ _Relax." Itachi told him. "I did not perform a Genjutsu on you to attack, but to talk privately."_

 _"_ _What do you mean?"_

 _"_ _I believe Zetsu is watching us at this very moment, and I do not want him to hear this conversation… The Akatsuki do not trust me."_

 _Orochimaru chuckled. "Need I remind you of your clan?"_

 _Genjutsu-Itachi did not respond, staring at the pale man emotionlessly._

Outside of the Tsukuyomi, "What is happening?" " **It would appear Itachi has decided to turn on his partner. Not good."** Black Zetsu replied his other half.

"Should we intervene?" White Zetsu prompted. " **No, there is little we can do against a ninja of his caliber. We would only embarrass ourselves. We will watch and see what happens… and report back to Pein and Madara."**

 _"_ _No need to take it too personal Itachi, after all we're all S-Class criminals. I'm sure Leader trusts you as little as he trusts me."_

 _"_ _There is no escape from this jutsu, Orochimaru. Someone like yourself, who is so intrigued by the Sharingan, its history and jutsu of any kind with as much power and stature as you once as you, should know of Tsukuyomi."_

 _"_ _I am aware of that," Orochimaru frowned. "You said this was for a conversational purpose, not an attack," He reminded, not understanding the Uchiha's actions._

 _"_ _That is true, but I will do as I must… If I am in fact wrong about you," Itachi elaborated only slightly._

 _Orochimaru said nothing, just staring back at Genjutsu-Itachi, awaiting a question of some kind. Had Itachi figured out he was a spy? Was he not careful enough when he dispatched a Shadow Clone to the Leaf this time?_

 _"_ _You were one of the Hokage's students, one of the closest people to him out of all the Hidden Leaf; But even you were not told the truth about me, were you?"_

 _Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "The truth?" He repeated out of curiosity._

 _"_ _The truth about me is a secret. A secret I will not reveal without learning the truth about you."_

 _"_ _My my Itachi… As often as you speak, it's curious how you're able to talk in riddles. I'm impressed," Orochimaru mocked. "Seek your truth… I have nothing to hide."_

 _"_ _Is that so?" Itachi stated, ignoring the bulk of his comment. "Then you're not a spy for the Hidden Leaf?"_

 _Orochimaru's heart skipped a beat, but his face betrayed no emotion. "An interesting accusation, but I do not believe you are stupid Itachi. You are well aware of the bounty on my head as well as my official exile."_

 _"_ _In the ninja world…" Itachi began, locking his eyes shut. "Things are rarely as they appear…" When his Mangekyou shot back open the two of them found themselves in a Genjutsu version of the Leaf village. It was a residential section of the village the Sannin was less familiar with, and he was momentarily confused before seeing a familiar symbol on a nearby door._

 _The Uchiha clan emblem._

 _Orochimaru followed Itachi into the building, passing by the sentries oblivious to their existence and the Sannin found himself in a crowded… rally? Of some sort full of Uchiha. Fugaku Uchiha, Itachi's father and Clan head stood before the entire assembly of members._

 _What is this, an Uchiha clan meeting? Why would Itachi— Then Orochimaru noticed something, most of them carried a look in their eyes he was all too familiar with, having fought in war. Their eyes, Sharingan inactive… carried malice as they listened intently to their leader who was spieling hatred for their treatment by the village, the suspicion on them revolving around the Kyuubi and where their rightful place in the Leaf's standing should have resided._

 _Orochimaru was not a fool. He understood exactly what this was, but that meant…_

 _The Sannin stared at Itachi with an incredulous gaze, which the former ANBU captain took as his cue to skip to another memory._

 _Now they were on the balcony at the top of the Hokage tower. Orochimaru and Itachi stood to the side in their Akatsuki robes, listening to the younger Itachi and Lord Third, as the old man made promises to Itachi that he would protect Sasuke… particularly from Danzo. Based on the course of the conversation and the obvious remorse that infected younger Itachi's voice, Orochimaru concluded this was a meeting after the massacre took place._

 _If these were authentic versions of what happened… Itachi Uchiha was a traitor to his clan… but not his village._

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _[1/4/16]_**

 **Well, as you can see I intentionally mixed and matched the squads a bit to help diversify things from canon and also looked to change the Jonin leaders up as well though only Anko has been revealed as one.**

 **More importantly… Orochimaru is actually a good guy O.O**

 **As far as characters go on who's more important than who… I use a large cast like the Anime but Team Six is the most common center of attention.**


	2. Squad six - PASS or FAIL

**Chapter 2: Squad six – PASS or FAIL**

 ** _A/N:_** **I recommend a story that I discovered the day after posting this story's first chapter its called "Team Anko" by EagleJarl. I found it ironic there was already someone 11-chapters into an idea similar to mine, not that ours are going in the same direction. Very good and definitely worth checking out.**

"Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzamaki… there is one more test you must pass before you are truly on this team. Its true you have all graduated, but without passing _my_ test… you will be sent back."

The Genin trio grunted at that unexpected bit of information as she continued. "Every Jonin that picked up a squad yesterday and determined whether that squad passed or failed… well, except ours I should say," she explained, scratching her head somewhat awkwardly after stating that last part.

"So we have to pass another test. What a drag."

"Yeah that's not fair at all like you said we already graduated! You can't just send us back!"

Anko's gaze turned maniacle all the sudden and fixated on Naruto. "I won't fail you Naruto… All you have to do is PASS. From what I hear, you never give up so your team shouldn't have a problem, right?"

"Yeah… I never give up! It's my ninja way!"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Shut up Naruto… we don't even know what the test is yet!"

Naruto and Kiba went into a brief back and forth as Shikamaru chose to eye Anko instead. He wanted to gage her as much as possible, he ran into Sakura on his way home yesterday.

 _"Hey, Shikamaru! Did your team pass?" The pink haired Genin queried._

 _"Pass what?"_

 _She appeared puzzled. "Your team didn't have to pass a challenge posed by your Jonin? All the other teams did…"_

 _"Oh… Thanks for the heads up I'm betting we'll be doing that tomorrow." Shikamaru concluded and suddenly was in a hurry to get home to find out from his dad what this challenge might present to his team and then find some peace and quiet in his room… and strategize._

Now the moment he prepared for was here. He took Kiba's specialties into account as well as his own. If Naruto had any specialties known to the Nara he could've inserted those into his thoughts as well… but he didn't. In fact, Shikamaru was still confused as to how Naruto was passed after failing the rest three times but that wasn't important at the moment. Anko waited for Naruto and Kiba to calm down before continuing further. "Your challenge will be to capture me," She revealed. Shikamaru noted that she said the word capture while looking him in the eye specifically. _This is a test of teamwork… we have to work as a team so I can capture her using shadow possession._ Shikamaru quickly figured out.

"The three-"She caught herself. " _Four_ of you versus me. The only rule that applies to both sides, is no killing… that said, you better come at me like you want to kill me or it'll never work," she warned, and licked her lips with a possessed expression on her face.

"We will begin when you are ready," she gestured to her squad.

"Guys," Kiba stated, getting their attention. "There's something you should know about Anko-sensei; I asked my sis who she was and she told me Anko is a former pupil of Orochimaru."

Shikamaru's eyes widened for a moment. "That speaks volumes to what we're up against."

Naruto however didn't seem impressed. "Who's Orochimaru?"

Kiba and Shikamaru both moaned at their hopeless teammate. "Forget about it we don't have time to waste telling you things we can't believe you don't know," Kiba snapped.

"Hey! I'm not gonna wait all day, take your opportunity to strike or I'll just fail all three of you right now!" Anko threatened.

Kiba casted his gaze in the Jonin's direction. "All right, I'll take you up on that invitation. Come on Akamaru!" Akamaru transformed into an exact copy of Kiba and joined the Inuzuka in a charge right at their new sensei. "Try and keep up, Naruto!" Kiba called back to his teammate without turning back. Anko pulled out a pair of kunai in preparation and just smirked.

"I'll show you! Just wait!" Naruto responded, making a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Abruptly, about a half a dozen Naruto's were created and joined the fray as Kiba's backup.

Shikamaru watched on in shock. _Shadow clones? When did he learn to do that? He couldn't even make a simple clone to pass the academy test._ Meanwhile, Kiba and Akamaru engaged Anko. The tag team flanked her on opposite sides. They chose to attempt to claw at her and use taijutsu moves. Anko needed little effort to dodge both of them and their _slow_ movements. When the proper opening presented itself, she then performed a spin move between the both of them slicing into their shoulders with her kunai. Kiba and Akamaru grunted in pain. "Didn't I warn you to come at me like you were gonna kill me?" She reiterated as she retaliated against the swarm of Naruto's shadow clones.

She dispatched the first one with a side-step move to avoid the clone's fist and batted it into a nearby tree in a poof of smoke. She ducked a kick from the next one and swept his legs before catching the next wave of them off-guard by leaping _towards_ them going on offense. Anko tucked the kunai safely away decided not to use them without being able to tell which ones were clones and which one was the real Naruto; it would be a bad idea to accidently kill one of her new protégé. All four of the Naruto's tried to recover from the surprise and strike her together before she could strike any of them but it was futile. After the four of them each landed what they thought were multiple blows on the Jonin her body transformed into a piece of wood. _How on earth did she do that!? And when?_ Naruto thought. He of course knew what happened, but was utterly stunned when it did. He cut the chakra off from his shadow clones and searched from the real Anko.

"NARUTO! BEHIND YOU," Shikamaru assisted.

Before Naruto could even react Anko was behind him and restricted his ability to move and then brought a kunai to his neck. Anko licked her lips in the same fashion as her mentor had a tendency to do. "Shouldn't have cancelled those shadow clones… I wouldn't have known which one was really you," she told him, in a creepy and intimidating whisper that caused Naruto to involuntarily shiver.

"Aww.." she continued. "Don't be too frightened yet. I haven't even used my jutsu to tie you up yet; then you'll have plenty of reason to be afraid.

"Yeah right! You can't scare me, I won't let that happen!" He refuted, making an effort to break free of her grasp. Anko just chuckled as a knot of snakes crept their way from out of her sleeves and wrapped around him tightly. Naruto looked absolutely terrified as one of the snakes' heads peered at him just inches from his chin and hissed.

Kiba and Shikamaru looked on bewildered. "Disgusting," the Nara commented.

"How about I add a new rule… Since I've successfully captured Naruto, he's eliminated. If I do the same to each of you," she gestured Kiba, Shikamaru and Akamaru. "Then you all fail."

"WHAT!? Hey that's not fair you didn't tell us that!" Naruto objected, trying not to think about the fact his body was entrenched with snakes.

Anko just laughed again and glanced his way. "Trust me _boy_ , the ninja world ain't fair. Drop the tough guy act," she advised. "You're pitiful; your movements are so obvious that even the academy washouts should be able to read them." Naruto grumbled at her critique but it fell on deaf ears.

She turned back to the still standing members of the squad. "You have two hours to capture me… and next time, when I say come at me like you want to kill me… _do it_. No more of this holding weapons and jutsu back crap. You're going to come at me with all you got," She demanded eying Kiba. "You guys couldn't possibly kill me if you wanted to, believe me."

Kiba's gaze shifted to Shikamaru. "Are you actually going to do _something_ now? I know you're lazy but I thought you wanted to be a ninja. We can't fail this test just because you think it's a drag," Kiba sarcastically jabbed his squad mate.

Shikamaru snorted at the comment. "I wanted to see her in action rather than just run at her with no plan that's more complex than 'trying to hit her'," he replied snidely.

Kiba decided to just ignore it and tossed Akamaru a food pill and then swallowed one himself. Akamaru's skin and fur tone changed to a seemingly angry shade of red and Kiba dropped on all fours. He was getting serious this time. "Ninja art: Man-Beast mimicry. All fours jutsu!" Kiba and Akamaru charged Anko again. _Man… why did I get such hotheads for teammates? He wants me to help but just charges in on his own with no collaborative strategy in place. Shikamaru moaned inwardly._

"Get her Kiba!" Naruto rooted on from his prison.

 _All right, that's close enough._ Kiba decided as they closed in on their sensei, launching smoke bombs on her location and both slowed down their pace before entering the smoke. Confident that Anko could no longer see, he gave Akamaru a signal and the ninja-hound transformed into a copy of Kiba once again. _So that's his plan, he wants to try and take her by surprise by concealing Akamaru's transformation. Clever, but I doubt it will work, he shouldn't have performed that trick openly earlier if he had this approach in mind._ Shikamaru analyzed.

Anko grinned with glee as the violet smoke surrounded her. "This is gonna be fun."

Both Kiba's circled Anko like a predator and their prey. Quite predictably, the first Kiba to lunge at her came from where her back was turned and surprisingly it _successfully_ stabbed her right in the back with kunai and Anko let out a yelp of pain. Next, the second Kiba which was actually Akamaru lashed out at her from the left slashing at her chest. Anko coughed up blood, shocked that the initial attack caught her off guard and her body collapsed.

 _Why didn't she defend herself!?_ Kiba panicked. _We were just supposed to capture her not put her on the deathbed! Damn it!_ He rolled her body over to see if she was conscious. "Anko-sens arugh! What the _hell!_ " He blurted out. The body was Anko… but the when he revealed the face it was that of his sister's. "K-Kiiba.." the dying face muttered revealing her tongue with a paper bomb activating upon her speaking. The extremely confused highly alarmed Kiba had no time to make distance and it detonated, the explosion consuming him and Akamaru.

Shikamaru ran towards the dissipating smoke in confusion. Kiba had totally _freaked_ out for no apparent reason and passed out… and Anko-sensei was nowhere to be found. He kneeled down by his teammate. "Kiba!" He shouted, shaking his unconscious body and lightly slapping his face a few times. "Wake up! I need you damn it."

Akamaru growled at him after he raised his hand for a fourth… harder slap and he opted not to go through with it. Akamaru turned his attention back to his master and whined. _What did she do to him? Must be the effect of a Genjutsu… Great… whatever torture she put him through has put him in some kind of shocked trauma and Naruto is tied up. It's all up to me now._ Shikamaru then looked at the dog and smirked. "Hey… you wouldn't happen to be up for taking her down with me would ya? I need someone to back me up."

The ninja-hound merely whined and laid down by his sleeping master and Shikamaru stood back up. _There's no way she'll fall for the shadow possession jutsu if I went at her with it head on. She's a jonin, I have to expect her to be capable of thwarting any plan I can formulate. But then again, if we're going to pass this test… I have to come up with something that will WORK. Fighting a Jonin that knows of my skill set and has a general idea of what I'm going to try to do with no backup whatsoever._ "What a drag this is turning out to be…" he complained.

He walked over to a nearby tree and slumped against it deciding that she wasn't going to try and hunt him down when the challenge was for them to capture her. She also told them they had two hours which meant he had about an hour and thirty-five minutes left. He put his hands together in what looked almost like a hand sign and started thinking deeply. "Hey! What are you doing! Are you giving up or something?" Naruto screamed.

Shikamaru tried to tune his teammate out. "Shikamaru! Hey! Answer me!"

"JUST SHUT UP!" He demanded. "I'm not giving up… I just need time to think," he explained more calmly. "I can't take her out with my jutsu head on so I need a strategy."

"Why not?" Naruto asked idiotically. Granted, he didn't know about Shikamaru's family jutsu.

Shikamaru sighed. "I'll explain later, for now just leave me be so I can think, all right?" The Nara replied. Naruto could be heard quietly grumbling again as his day just wasn't getting any better.

Shikamaru locked his eyes shut and went into a near trance like state in his thoughts. He wasn't a tracking specialist; if she was hiding from him there was absolutely no way he could locate her and catch her by surprise. _Not against a Jonin._ He thought. That didn't even bother to take into account that she could have set traps up for him, perhaps even use traps to direct him the wrong way making things even more difficult for the Genin. Catching her by surprise was really the only way to pass; he had to get her snared within his shadow possession jutsu somehow.

 _"Your challenge will be to capture me," He recalled Anko saying while looking directly at him while saying the word capture._

She even hinted that it would come down to Shadow possession. Then, she changed what she originally instructed on them after tying Naruto up with the snakes.

 _"How about I add a new rule… Since I've successfully captured Naruto, he's eliminated. If I do the same to each of you," she gestured to Kiba and I. "Then you all fail."_

 _"WHAT!? Hey that's not fair you didn't tell us that!" Naruto objected._

 _Anko just laughed again and glanced his way. "Trust me boy, the ninja world ain't fair. Drop the tough guy act," she advised._

But she had originally said there was only one rule… no killing.

Shikamaru's eyes shot open with more confidence than an Uchiha and his sharingan. "All right, Naruto. I've got it figured out," He announced standing up.

"Great! Goodluck taking her down! I really don't want to go back to the academy…"

Shikamaru smirked. "Don't worry, I won't waste any time. Step one…" he started, reaching for his mini shuriken. "Free Naruto," he finished and launched the barrage of shuriken at the snakes causing them to hiss angrily. He then ran up and drove a kunai right through them downward vertically slicing them open and freeing his disgusted teammate.

"Are you crazy! Anko-sensei said-"

"Was bluffing," Shikamaru interrupted.

"Whwh-how do you know for sure about that?" Naruto countered.

"You'll just have to trust me," he offered, rushing over to Kiba to try and wake him up again. Unfortunately, Kiba was still as responsive as a corpse.

"Damn. Oh well my plan was without Kiba being conscious but it would've been a nice bonus if he would wake up." He gestured Naruto to follow him into the forest leaving Akamaru to watch over his master once again.

"So, you gonna let me in on this plan?" Naruto asked.

"Well it won't work without you… so I kind of have to."

* * *

Anko yawned out of boredom. She had been sitting in one place for about fourty minutes. _Maybe I shouldn't have set all those traps to confuse them… Kiba should be able to track me down but I might have overdone it on that genjutsu._ She reflected. _Oh well, it's on them if they fail._ As if on cue, she heard one of her traps explode _very_ close. She grinned and leapt out into the open to make it just a little bit easier on them.

Kiba and Shikamaru faced her just thirty yards away. "Good, you woke up from your nap. Is that what took so long to find me?" She taunted her new pupil. Neither shinobi reacted which perturbed the Jonin but she did not show it. _Just what are they up to?_ She wondered. "Are you guys going to try to capture me or not?"

Suddenly she caught a glimpse of movement from her peripheral vision and narrowly evaded a shadow from catching her. She glared at Shikamaru in mid air, he was casting no jutsu. Anko landed and continued to retreat from the shadow and laughed. "Of course…" she said as if realizing what was happening. "Clever, you had Akamaru transform into Shikamaru. You're finally functioning as an actual team."

Her attention was drawn away as she heard movement in the branches above and drew her kunai but the copy of Shikamaru covered the third entity with an array of shuriken forcing Anko to dodge. _Akamaru launched shuriken?_ Anko laughed again. "I can't believe I almost fell for that. This Shikamaru is Kiba and Kiba is Akamaru. You almost had me there, I was wondering why Kiba was keeping his mouth shut," she chuckled. "Charade's over boys."

Believing she had won the game of charades, she threw a volley or kunai at who she thought was Kiba. The Shikamaru lookalike ducked for cover behind the nearest tree, where his doppelganger was awaiting for him. In order to keep the deception up the copy of Kiba ran at her and lunged. She easily dispatched him onto the ground and proceeded after Shikamaru who reappeared from behind the tree.

Shikamaru waited til she could close in and made his hand sign faster than he ever had before casting the jutsu and snaring his sensei just before she could make contact. "Shadow possession jutsu, complete."

Anko stared in disbelief. "How!? There's no way! The real Shikamaru was hidden and tried to get me with the shadow possession but I avoided it, then he relocated. I tried to attack your stealthless, noisy ass when you did!" She claimed sounding very frustrated that she actually _walked right into this._

Shikamaru smirked at his new sensei. "Would you like further elaboration?" He queried as a second Shikamaru stepped out from behind the tree and disappeared in a poof of smoke. Naruto leapt down from where he had been hiding and gave Shikamaru a thumbs up.

"What? You…" She stated deadpanned.

"When you came out to fight us, you were met by two shadow clones. One that looked like Kiba, and one that looked like me," Shikamaru began. "I figured that you would try to read into our strategy when I came that close and made it impossible to perform a surprise attack. Of course, I never actually planned on something as stupid as that, which is why Naruto needed to pose as Kiba as well… to falsely lead you into thinking the other clone was Akamaru."

Anko was instantly impressed that a mere genin had came up with those deductions. Tactics required a lot of reasonable projections and foresight. "I intentionally used shadow possession from a hiding place in order to give my general position away. Then, the _real_ Naruto 'relocated' as you put it. Because you could not see, you had no way of knowing it wasn't the same person; it also didn't help that we planted the idea that Kiba and Akamaru were in front of you. You didn't even consider that a fourth person might be lurking which made it easier for me to sneak my way behind this tree behind me."

"So when I forced the shadow clone that conveniently looked exactly like you behind the same tree… you were able to come out and use your technique," Anko finished for him. "Unbelievable…"

"You also ignored the shadow clone you 'killed' think the poof of smoke was just Akamaru's transformation being undone. Careless sensei," Naruto gloated.

Anko glared daggers at the jinchuriki for a moment, still stuck in Shikamaru's jutsu. "Very impressive," She conceded. "Except one thing: You violated the rules! I said Naruto was eliminated right after I captured him!" She smirked.

Shikamaru remained unfazed. "The ninja world ain't fair, sensei. Someone told me that not very long ago."

Anko's smirk turned into a grin. Maybe she was going to enjoy having these brats around after all. "Well played, now release me!" She commanded and Shikamaru complied.

"Congratulations! Team six has officially passed their Jonin test!" The trio shared a very brief celebration before heading back to retrieve Kiba, who undoubtedly needed to be taken to the hospital if he didn't wake up soon.

 ** _A/N:_** **Well I hope everyone enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it! I felt like I rushed things a bit in chapter one by trying to introduce too many different things going on when maybe I should've just focused on squad six. Anyhow I suppose it doesn't matter now it's already been done. This chapter on the other hand I felt was a hell of a lot better and less of a chore to follow lol. Please review I'd love to hear some feedback**

 ***Had to repost the chapter as I accidentally screwed up the spot on a scene divider**


	3. Jiraiya's Secret Mission

**Chapter 3: Jiraiya's Secret mission**

 ** _A/N:_** **I just want to address a few differences from this world and canon revolving around Orochimaru.**

 **As chapter 1 showed… Orochimaru is on an infiltration mission for the Hidden Leaf within the Akatsuki. This means he wasn't exiled, well actually he was but as chapter 1 stated it was "just for show" most of the village recognizes him as a criminal and a rogue ninja aside from a select few. This also means he didn't leave the village until MANY years later than in canon and Anko does not have a curse mark. The village hidden in the sound was never founded.**

 **All I can think of about that at the moment, if anyone else thinks of something confusing or inconsistent PM me or review I'll hopefully already have the answer to it. Enjoy**

"Kiba, you have some visitors. Do you wish to see them?" The nurse asked.

"Yes, thank you," the bored Genin approved.

Within a minute or two his fellow teammates and to his dismay sensei came through the hospital door single file. "How you feelin' Kiba?" Shikamaru greeted.

"I'm… okay," He stated neutrally, eying Anko-sensei with venom leaking from his gaze.

"Glad to see you woke up kid," she laughed nervously. "Had me worried there for a couple days… I took that genjutsu a little too far apparently."

"A LITTLE TOO FAR?" He repeated.

"Please don't get him too excited!" A nurse reminded the squad.

"I know, I know… You gotta remember I learned from Orochimaru and he can be rather wicked at times. They say I'm a lot like him around the village ya know," She attempted to deflect the blame on her mentor.

"That's your excuse?!" Kiba stated in disbelief.

Anko shrugged. "Live long enough and maybe you'll use the same excuse on your student about me."

Naruto and Shikamaru watched the two of them bicker at each other for while with mild amusement. The doctor came in and ran another test and told all of them Kiba wouldn't be released until tomorrow, which meant they wouldn't be going on their first mission after all because they were down one member.

"Man… I _really_ want to go on a mission," Naruto complained.

"Naruto," Shikamaru said getting his attention. "Believe me, D-rank missions are lame; you're getting disappointed over something you're going to hate in a couple days. Painting fences to help the village community, catching missing animals and even more dull tasks than that," he rolled his eyes just at the thought of having to do those things each day.

"What really? Wait how do you know that? Is it from your family?" Naruto asked hoping he was joking.

"I'm sure they could attest too if I asked them," he replied. "But this is just what I know from talking to Chogi and Hinata the other day. I ran into them at a restaurant and we caught up a bit on what's been going on with each other's teams; they were curious on what kind of missions we were handed and I had to explain our… situation."

Anko scratched her head awkwardly and nodded. "My fault," she admitted. "What annoys me is due to this," she gestured Kiba lying in his bed. "We start missions later therefore get C-rank missions later than the other squads from this year's class." The others groaned at that but Anko continued. "Trust me I can't wait to get to those C-rank missions any less than you all will," she stated thinking about the chunin exams and the experience they needed. "Not that I won't enjoy my role in your D-rank missions," she then added.

Kiba raised an eyebrow, he also was aware of how boring D-rank missions were from his clan relatives. "What role is that, sensei?"

"Working on my tan," she answered with no shame or hesitation whatsoever.

The Genin trio put the death glare on her but she brushed if off not caring. Naruto turned away from a second and did his best to hide the fact he had to wipe some blood that started dripping down his nostrils after unintentionally having a rather nice image go through his mind. In his defense, Anko was dressed very casually at the moment and looked very attractive in a very short skirt with a tight shoulderless top. Either Anko didn't see the reaction, or just didn't care.

"The patient will need to rest, you all need to leave," a different nurse walked in and informed them.

"Rest? Bah he was asleep for like three days what the fuck does he need rest for?" Anko argued.

"Lower you voice please. There are patients sleeping in the other rooms!" The nurse urged.

Anko just stared at her but reluctantly agreed. "Whatever, fine. Naruto, Shikamaru go on I'll catch up with you outside," she ordered.

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded and started out the door. But Naruto drew to a halt and looked back at his teammate. "Get better Kiba, we'll need you tomorrow," He encouraged giving him a thumbs up.

Kiba chuckled. "I seriously doubt that…" He commented thinking about the prospect of D-rank assignments. "But don't worry; I'm fine it's just hospital regulations stopping me now."

Naruto satisfied, nodded and started walking again. "Later," was Shikamaru's simple farewell as he followed Naruto out. That left just Anko and her final student alone.

She smirked. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry… about the genjutsu. I'll make it up to you don't worry." She then took on a more serious expression. "But don't think that a genjutsu in a _real_ battle couldn't be just as bad. You need to be ready for it."

Kiba nodded in understanding. "Right, sorry I was so pissed at you when you first got here."

Anko simply smirked again. "It's fine kid, I reacted the same way more than once to Orochimaru… and this won't be the last time I piss you off. Don't ever be sorry."

"All right sensei," Kiba laughed.

* * *

Anko joined Naruto and Shikamaru in the lobby and the trio walked out of the hospital. "Anko-sensei, what did you do to him anyway?" Naruto finally asked, he didn't want to pose the question in front of Kiba.

"What? Genjutsu, I already told you that… Keep up," she answered.

"No I know that, I mean what was in the genjutsu?"

"What was in the genjutsu?" She repeated not understanding.

"I think what Naruto means is: What did Kiba see during the genjutsu to affect him enough to put him out for three days? It's rather unusual after all," Shikamaru translated, he too was interested in her answer but wasn't actually planning on bringing it up.

Anko was listening but her eyes darted off towards something else. Shikamaru's eyes followed but saw nothing.

"I made it appear that I didn't defend myself, let him 'kill me' and replaced my face with a member of the Inuzuka clan. I think it was his sister actually… then to put a cherry on top I had her say something to him revealing a paper bomb in her mouth which exploded before he had any chance to get away. His brain was literally fooled into thinking he died."

Naruto and shikamaru stopped in their tracks upon that description and gasped at her like she was a total psycho. Anko merely sighed at the reaction. "Would you guys stop holding this thing against me already. I apologized to him and promised to make it up to him; I'm gonna teach him a special jutsu."

"What? Hey that's no fair I want to learn a special jutsu!" Naruto complained. "Just cause Kiba was put through a genjutsu that put him comatose for three days means he gets a new jutsu!?" He stated appalled, as if he suddenly thought lightly of what she put Kiba through.

Anko's eyes twinkled with sadism as she turned to face him directly. "I can definitely put you through a terrifying genjutsu if you want," she offered. That was not the reply Naruto was hoping for.

"But I won't teach you a special jutsu yet." Anko added.

Naruto crossed his arms and groaned. "But why not?"

"You and Shikamaru have truly special, advanced jutsu. Shadow clones and shadow possession. Kiba has some very unique and useful abilities but nothing nearly as flashy as what the two of you have," she painted for him while glancing off as if sighting someone following them. That time Shikamaru thought he saw something too. But who could be following them?

Anko's expression went from neutral to very pissed off in a heartbeat but Naruto didn't even notice. "Oh, I guess that makes sense… but I still want to learn more jutsu! And you're my sens-" he dropped it when Anko ignored what he was saying and took off _running_ in the direction of where Shikamaru had thought he saw someone.

"You stupid old _perv_!" She screamed as the stalker emerged and ran from his hiding spot.

Anko very quickly caught up to him and pounded him as if he had a history of doing this to her. The man was in fact fairly old, though his grey hair looked naturally so had he still been young. He wore a rather unusual red outfit with chain mail under it and some red face paint markings kind of like Kiba but much thinner and more vertical. He did not wear a leaf headband which begged the question, where was he from?

"Anko… show some mercy for once would ya. I'm not following you for _that_ reason… this time," he quipped.

Anko rolled her eyes. It was a good reason she didn't have any female genin, she would've taken that wrong and pummeled him again thinking he chose to become a pedophile. "Really? Then why were you following us… and why do you suck so bad at your stealth abilities today?"

"I may have had a few drinks," he admitted. "Care to have a few more with me?" He asked regretting it immediately as she hit him again. "For business reasons…" he added. "I was following because I was waiting for you to be alone to discuss things."

Anko contemplated the excuse and seemed to soften up. "All right fine, but it's definitely _not_ a date old man! And you're paying for everything."

"Wow sensei you're ruthless," Naruto spoke.

 _Women…_ Shikamaru suppressed. _Why did I out of all the Genin have to get a woman for a Jonin? I knew it would be a drag…_

Anko smiled at the Genin. "Looks like I'm just going to give you two the rest of the day off; without Kiba we can't take on a mission and training is limited since I don't want to let you two get too far ahead of him. Just go out and have some fun," she told them and walked off with the old man. "Where to, Jiraiya? I swear if you try and bring me with you to a stripjoint again I'm going to _kill_ you!" The Genin heard her threaten before they got out of earshot.

"Well… That guy definitely isn't on Anko's good side." Naruto analyzed.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru agreed. "I wouldn't want to be on her hit list…"

* * *

"Thanks _sweetie_ ," Jiraiya bowed as a brunette waitress sat down a trey for him and Anko with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Anko's glare did not go unregistered. Normally, she didn't mind men being men and women being women… but Jiraiya played his part of being a man so much it was completely disgusting… not to mention he apparently didn't believe in age and would openly flirt with a sixteen year old if the opportunity came about. Then there were his books, and she was pretty _damn_ sure one of the characters was modeled after her but he strongly denied it. He also had a reputation for peeping on people. Yep, Anko could only handle so much or one man's poorly controlled desires and she resented Orochimaru for leaving her in his care several times when he had missions that were too far above her and would be gone for extended period of time. Someone had to keep up on her training she supposed… but why this perv she'd never understand, legendary Sannin or not. I mean for God sakes… she was a girl what the hell was Orochimaru thinking?

Jiraiya poured both of them their wine and took a sip cheerfully. "I thought you might be interested in my newest assignment," he began. They made sure they sat at a table isolated far away from everyone else in the bar. Thankfully it wasn't very busy this early in the day.

Anko raised an eyebrow while downing her first glass in one sip as if it were a shot. Jiraiya stared disapprovingly. "That's not too ladylike ya know… You definitely didn't pick etiquette up from Orochimaru did you?"

Anko returned the stare. "Really? You're going to talk to me about bad habits? Don't even bother taking me down that road," she shot back.

The Toad Sannin conceded to her point and went back to the conversation of importance. "The Hokage's assigned me to find Orochimaru."

Her eyes widened. "Why?"

"He thinks it might seem strange to the Akatsuki that no one has put much effort searching for an S-Class rogue ninja. It's only because of the Hokage that we haven't been; now we have to make things seem more realistic before they catch on."

Anko processed this for a moment. "But… The Akatsuki travel in pairs; I know Orochimaru wouldn't kill you intentionally but what about his partner? Or even worse his partner insist Orochimaru kill you and force him to turn on him. This is a bad idea, it jeopardizes the mission!"

"All of what you say is true… I thought of such things, and I was hoping you might know who his partner is since I forgot to ask the Hokage," he chuckled.

"Itachi Uchiha."

Jiraiya nodded thoughtfully. "That's not good, he analyzes things deeply… it would be more in our favor for his partner to be powerful but arrogant and easier to fool with some very good acting on your sensei and I's part."

He then shrugged it off. "Oh well, there will always be things shinobi cannot control in the field. If worse comes to worse and our cover is doomed, I can't think of a better ally to help me try and take Itachi down than Orochimaru."

Anko smiled and nodded. "Good luck Jiraiya," she offered him, downing a second glass in one sip.

He stared at her the same way he did the first time. "You've got to stop doing that."

Tired of arguing with the Toad Sannin she didn't bother getting into it as she waved farewell and began to leave. "Anko,"

She looked back. "When I return, I'll relay whatever message he might have for you," he promised.

"Thanks old man,"

* * *

After Anko gave them the day off Shikamaru and Naruto decided to go their own ways. Naruto was hungry so he decided to swing by his apartment to get some money and head off to Ichiraku's for some ramen. When he got there, all the seats were empty which meant he wouldn't have to worry about waiting for other people's orders. "Hi Ayame! I'll have three bowls of the usual!"

"Coming right up Naruto!"

"Where're your teammates, Naruto?" The old man asked the sake of conversation.

"Well one of them's in the hospital… and the other went home I think."

"The hospital? But aren't the new ninja supposed to do easy missions that don't pose any real danger in the beginning?"

"Yeah but uh well uh it was a training accident. We haven't even taken a mission on yet," Naruto explained. "It really sucks. I know Shikamaru said the early missions are a drag but at the same time being a ninja and not doing any missions is just as bad!"

Old man Ichiraku laughed at the child's dilemma. "Is your teammate going to be okay?"

"Oh yeah he'll be fine, we're getting our first mission tomorrow once they release him from the hospital!"

"Here you go Naruto," Ayame said, placing three bowls of ramen in front of him followed by a pair of chopsticks. Naruto grinned as he was about to dig in but was interrupted by _a lot_ of bickering as three more people approached Ichiraku's.

"You're the one who let that stupid cat slip out of your grasp don't blame me!" Ino shouted.

"I _never_ would have dropped it if you didn't trip me you pig!"

"I _told_ you like five times now, it was inadvertent! Sasuke was there, he saw it all you're just clumsy!" She fired back.

The trio sat down, Sasuke in the middle, Ino to his left and Sakura to his right which was to Naruto's left.

Naruto, Ichiraku and Ayame stared on at what was probably the genin team with the least chance of succeeding without one of them killing one of the others. "Uh… hi Sakura," Naruto spoke up, suddenly snapping them out of their stupid argument.

She turned around having not realized he was even there. _Damn it Ino, if I were paying attention I wouldn't have sat next to Naruto. Now I can't move without looking like a total bitch._

"Oh cool, Naruto's here," Ino acknowledged. _Ino's happy to see me? What the hell is going on today?_ Naruto wondered, more suspicious than Anko was of Jiraiya earlier in the day. "How about that Sasuke. We can go on a double date now… You and me, Naruto and billboard brow!"

 _Oh shit._ Naruto thought. Sakura got up to lash out at Ino so fast she knocked over two of Naruto's bowls of ramen. Naruto looked at the two Kunoichi battling and rolling around the floor and then back to the wasted ramen agape. "It's okay Naruto…" Ayame got his attention. "I've got you," she winked and turned back to the fighting customers. "As for you two, get out! We're not going to serve people who spill our customer's food and disrupt our restaurant. The old man nodded in agreement.

"See look what you did now billboard brow!"

"You provoked me Ino-pig!"

"Thanks Ayame," as she placed two more bowls down for him.

"No problem," she smiled.

"Come on Sasuke," Ino called cheerfully.

"No," he responded bluntly. "They kicked you out, not me."

Ino ran off in a huff, Sakura in the opposite direction. For once, Naruto actually felt somewhat sorry for Sasuke… having to deal with _that_ all the time would be impossible. Sasuke turned to look at Naruto. "I never thought I'd say this, but I wish you were on my team," he stated. It was only half a complement. Naruto looked at him in surprise but said nothing as Sasuke turned to order his food.

 ** _A/N:_** **Well I had fun writing that… I literally** ** _flew_** **through it started and stopped without any break then looked it back over. Funny thing is I thought it** ** _felt_** **more like a Naruto episode than the other two chapters despite how easy of a time I had writing it.**

 **R n' R please :) Always appreciated**


	4. C-Rank Mission! Disturbance in Konalvera

**Chapter 4: C-Rank mission! Disturbance in Konalvera**

 ** _A/N:_** **Konalvera is just a civilian-dominated village I dreamed up for the sake of needing to come up with a good mission. Anyone who was hoping for Zabuza… sorry, but that will not be a mission for team six or an arc in this story though I considered it.**

It was a bright and sunny early morning in the village, Kiba observed as he walked through the streets as children were playing in the street occasionally getting in the way of Kiba's destination. Akamaru quietly rested on his shoulder almost like a parrot or something. He stopped a second to adjust his hood and realized Shikamaru was turning the corner from a side road.

"Shikamaru!" He waved.

His lazy teammate glanced around and spotted Kiba, nodding his head. "Hey," he greeted, walking over to Kiba. Akamaru gave him a bark but he couldn't tell if the dog was trying to say 'hi' or didn't like Shikamaru because the Genin slapped Kiba a few times when he needed to wake him up from his genjutsu spell. That day had passed about a little less than two weeks ago now; squad six had since then took on their first eight missions in seven days, tacking on two yesterday. Anko-sensei for some reason pushed them harder and insisted they do two missions as fast as they possibly could but she wouldn't elaborate on why.

The duo was heading to meet with Anko right now, and Naruto was supposed to be there as well of course. "I hope she doesn't make us to do two missions _again_ ," Shikamaru decided to share. The Nara had a habit of complaining about things, but at least he did what he was supposed to do for his team.

Kiba thought about it for a moment before responding. "I kinda like it," he decided. "Only because two missions means two payments. But she was pushing us to go so fast that it isn't worth the bonus," He inputted.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No," he said. "Doing two missions in one day get us paid for two, but then we do another mission or perhaps _two_ the next day anyway. Which means we're just doing more work… when we could've done one mission each day to get the same amount of pay, this just means we get paid quicker to do more work than we have to," Shikamaru complained.

Kiba snorted. "How do you manage getting around all the time when you're so negative about everything?"

"Why be positive about things when I can see it's gonna be a drag?"

Kiba made a dismissive gesture. "Man, you're hopeless."

Anko and Naruto were already at their meeting place, which wasn't too surprising that Naruto had beat them there because for some reason Anko chose for the squad to rally at Ichiraku's. _Naruto was probably here an hour early_. "Hey sensei, Naruto," Kiba greeted, announcing their presence.

"Good, you two are finally here," Anko stated, as she handed Ichiraku some money. Shikamaru noted that there wasn't any sign that there had been food where she was sitting. _Did Naruto just get a free meal?_ He wondered as Naruto have them a wave 'hello' as he continued to chow down.

"I know you're all going to hate me for this," Anko smiled cheerfully. "But you're going to be taking on _three_ D-rank missions today."

" _THREE?!_ " The trio spat, Naruto in fact quite literally since he had ramen in his mouth.

"Yup," she replied winking at them with one eye. "The three of you will accomplish three missions today as fast as you possibly can. That is why I asked for you all to meet with me earlier than usual."

"But sensei… why do we have to do so much _extra work_ I mean come on… I know we didn't get to start taking missions until later than the other squads but why is it so important that we catch up?" The angry Nara asked.

"We aren't trying to 'catch up,' we're trying to prove ourselves worthy of moving on to C-rank before the other squad's Jonin are even considering it," Anko revealed. "By completing three missions in record times all in one day… we have ammo to do so. Then tomorrow Naruto and I will have a few words with the Hokage to make sure he agrees with me."

"Uh but why me, sensei?" Naruto asked, surprised to hear her say his name.

"Because I have something _special_ in mind if he says no. We'll discuss it later," she told him dismissively. _Great, what the hell is she up to now._ Shikamaru could only imagine.

"Anyway," Anko continued. "It's also why I told Naruto to arrive even earlier than you guys. I knew he would dread the idea of doing three D-ranks so I paid for him to go 'all-you-can-eat.' Don't take that as favoritism though; Shikamaru gets dibs on all of the absolute easiest tasks in our missions today because he's lazy and wants even less to do with all of it than Naruto, I suspect. Kiba, I'm going to increase the training time between us tonight to work on your jutsu as your reward."

Kiba nodded at that taking it as a suitable reward. Shikamaru didn't really show any reaction at all. _At least she's not gonna make me work… hard._ He thought. _But it's still work… Urgh._

The Genin listened to Anko intently, deciding she was actually being very helpful even though at first it seemed like she was being an asshole. She was pushing them so they could advance past missions they all _hated_ and then went out of her way to reward each of them in some way to accommodate for the work she decided to force on them without warning. At that moment, it seemed pretty nice to have Anko as their Jonin instructor, even though she flirted with the grey lines of unstable and psychotic at times.

"Now, let's get started!" She commanded.

* * *

Kiba and Shikamaru for the second straight day found themselves arriving at about the same time (though not from the same path this time) and just like yesterday… Anko and Naruto were already waiting for them.

Anko smirked at them. "Ready for your first C-rank mission, boys?"

Kiba and Shikamaru were genuinely surprised to hear her say that. "Wow so that actually worked?" Kiba asked referencing the three D-rank missions.

"Uhm… not exactly," Anko chuckled, and began sharing the story of what she and Naruto did.

 _Anko walked into the Hokage's office in her normal attire, with the exception of a backpack that she hadn't been wearing recently due to its lack of purpose on a D-rank mission. However, as she promised the boys, she had no intention of taking a D-rank mission today._

 _The Hokage smiled warmly as she approached. "How many missions do you plan to take on today, Anko?"_

 _"_ _Just one," she replied._

 _He nodded acceptingly, though he hadn't expected that answer but he had no reason to push considering she made them take three the previous day. Perhaps she had a special training day planned out. Sarutobi then began to describe one of the D-rank missions but Anko merely shook her head before he even got very far into it._

 _"_ _I'm requesting a C-rank today," She stated bluntly._

 _Sarutobi's eyes widened but recovered admirably. "Your squad hasn't been doing missions for two weeks yet, and you actually think they're ready? I'm amazed you think I would even consider such a request."_

 _Anko waved a hand through her hair kind of awkwardly. "Well… I can't say it's exactly a request," she admitted._

 _He raised an eyebrow at her openness. "Then what is it?" He laid out, starting to suspect Anko was operating on Orochimaru's manipulation teachings._

 _"_ _A demand."_

 _The Hokage stared at her hiding that he was impressed she could come into his office and speak like that without being disrespectful and show absolutely no shame or fear in doing so. Not that it changed his mind of course._

 _"_ _Denied," He decided, but this didn't discourage Anko._

 _"_ _My Genin did THREE missions in near RECORD time yesterday! I strongly advise you reconsider… Lord-Hokage."_

 _He noted that she took the formal approach that time and could smell a scheme radiating off of her tongue._

 _"_ _I am pleased with team six's progress, but I will not permit them to graduate to C-level missions just yet. You will have to remain patient."_

 _Anko gave him a sigh that he translated as 'last chance old man, or you're going to regret it!' but Sarutobi stood his ground and remained unfazed. Anko dropped her backpack to the ground suddenly. Sarutobi stared at the gesture blankly until a poof of smoke occurred and the backpack transformed back into… Naruto?_

 _"_ _You know what to do kid…"_

 _"_ _Shadow clone jutsu!"_

 _Sarutobi didn't have time to react as about twenty Naruto's filled his office and then all of them prepared another jutsu he was (unfortunately) all too familiar with._

 _"_ _SEXY JUTSU!" They simultaneously shouted and the third Hokage knew he was screwed._

 _After a looong moment trying to regain his composure he eyed Anko angrily… Though it was kind of hard to actually keep his eyes on her. "ANKO MITARASHI!"_

 _"_ _Ha, don't freak out on me too much! I'm willing to give you one last chance to give in before Naruto sends these clones out through the whole village… except… they won't be beautiful curvy women, they will be imitations of you," she threatened confidently, though she was careful not to directly insult the man's looks… particularly what no one could or wanted to see._

 _"_ _Sorry old man! I'm just following my sensei's orders!" Naruto protected himself._

 _The petrified Hokage looked like he wanted to kill Anko. "Sometimes I really wish Orochimaru had neglected to teach you some of his specialties…" Sarutobi growled. Manipulative tactics like this were not supposed to be used on the Hokage!_

Shikamaru and Kiba couldn't believe what they were just told…

They gaped at their comrades like they lost their minds and then they bursted up laughing. "I can't believe that actually worked!" Kiba shouted.

"I was pretty nervous while it was going down…" Naruto admitted. "But my sexy jutsu is unbeatable!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Hey, I saw that Shikamaru! You're just jealous that I've gotten the better of the Hokage with a jutsu of my own twice!"

"What? Jealous? You're an idiot," he brushed off.

Anko watched the bickering ensue with amusement for awhile but eventually grew weary and cleared her throat. "Are you all forgetting we have a mission to carry out?" She reminded.

* * *

Konalvera was a decent sized village that focuses on economic profit above all else. There were no ninja, just hired mercenaries to defend the riches those who resided acquired. Though expensive, the mercs were effective enough to keep the thugs and crooks in line. Only a skilled con artist would get out of this village alive if he tried to rip anyone off. Konalvera rarely had a need to put a bounty on anyone's head because if they _did_ get out of the village… they didn't get very far. Another perk of using mercenaries instead of ninja was that when someone was murdered and another was highly suspected, it was easy to find someone willing to take the job for revenge. On the other hand, that also tended to have an intimidating domino-effect for with each assassination came a new bounty on the person most likely to have made the previous. That domino-effect is what held the village together… the fear of the domino-effect kept them in line. Well, for the most part. Not everyone is sane after all.

However… recently there were civilians coming to the Hidden Leaf begging for help. The clients claimed they had to _escape_ from the village they resided in because of the rise of some sort of religious cult calling themselves ' _The Order.'_ At first, the fleeing Konalverans came to the Hokage for help in startling consistency, but suddenly it stopped. Rumor said the cult was still in power, but it would seem they found a way to prevent _anyone_ from escaping their clutches. Of course, none of the people being held within Konalvera's walls were ninja… On the other hand, none of the followers of this cult were said to be ninja either. That is why it was just a C-rank mission, and it was a given that a team featuring Anko Mitarashi would rain hell on a bunch of outclassed thugs.

Squad six eagerly approached the gates with anticipation. Their mission was simple, all they had to do was confirm who the members of the cult were, and… _dismantle_ their grip on the village. Anko prepared them ahead of time for their cover story, stopping at a different village on the way to swap out of their uniforms and put their headbands away for stealth purposes. A group of mercs stopped them at the gate and questioned them. It took awhile, but Anko and her team were eventually admitted inside the village after the mercs were sure they had never seen any of them before and also that their possessions truly marked them as simple folk.

After they were out of ear-shot of the gates Shikamaru could be heard grumbling. "I don't like this, no weapons right in hostile territory."

"Try to relax, they don't even know we're coming for them," She stated with a sadistic glee that sounded like she saw the cult as her prey. Naruto let out a shudder at her sudden change of tone.

Konalvera was a lot different than home. The streets were more crowded with people and it probably didn't help now that nobody was allowed to leave. To the right they could see in the distance that new houses were being built to accommodate for the consequential growth in their village's population. The buildings themselves actually looked pretty nice, but Naruto had to remember that Anko-sensei did tell them the village prided itself on its economy. As for people walking around, they seemed very… tense. It reminded Naruto of how the common people back in the Hidden Leaf would act when he pulled pranks, though albeit not as angry… but they had a similar aura.

Anko lead the group through the crowd keeping a watchful eye on her Genin while trying to observe the people as well. She managed to find a closed store with no one standing around it and brought them over so they could talk privately and issue orders.

"Kiba, I want you and Akamaru to look for the mayor's hall… and survey them. Find out if the head of the cult is there or if the mayor still retains any power."

"Sure, but why is that important?" He asked.

Anko eyed him neutrally, reminding herself they are only Genin. "If we're going to take them down, we're going to have to figure out how things work around here. It's important information to see if the mayor is cooperative with the cult, being forced to cooperate, or dead." Seeing the trio still needed detail, she continued.

"This will clue us in on a lot of unknown facts. For example, if he's dead… we can assume the cult simply took over by force. If he's alive and not being monitored or threatened by the cult, they're in his pocket so he can gain more control than his political powers provide him."

A general understanding flushed over the rookies who nodded. "Well, don't just stand here, get going!" She beckoned.

Kiba grunted and took off with Akamaru. "Shikamaru… I want you to take a walk through the village and observer the defenses. Those mercenaries that let us in didn't look like they belong to some cult, so we have to learn more about the relationship between them. The obvious guess would be the cult is paying the mercs off."

"Paying them off? For them to sweep the mercenaries onto their side it would take a large amount of ryo… a sustainable amount. This is why you're interested in the mayor?" He asked, connecting one and two together.

Anko snorted. "Sharp as a knife, kid. But I'm not surprised you picked up on my hypothesis so far," she admitted, thinking about how the Nara managed to plan two steps ahead of her during the Genin test and catch her with his family jutsu. As irritated by that as she had been, she found the lazy teen very interesting.

"I'll analyze the village and get back to the two of you as fast as I can," He departed in the opposite direction. Naruto had a facial expression that gave Anko the impression he didn't believe the Nara really meant that last part.

"Wait, so what's my job sensei?"

"You're going to find a hotel that doesn't smell like a flaming pig carcass," She delegated, handing him the ryos.

"Why do I get the lame job?"The stated the disappointed Naruto as he accepted the cash.

"We're not doing the whole mission in one day you know… I only have so many tasks that need to be done until we've assessed the situation. That is what ninja do when they go undercover with little vague information to no knowledge at all. You'll get your chance when the time comes, now go on," Anko lectured.

Naruto sighed and walked off to do his part. He wanted to ask Anko what she was going to be doing but he figured that if she was doing it personally it was probably a lot cooler and more important than his job, which was a little depressing. Naruto counted the ryos and reasoned he could spend at least part of it on himself but decided against it. He wasn't sure how Anko would react towards him for that one… and he didn't have a death wish.

* * *

Shikamaru casually made his way through and around the village. He didn't walk fast of course, mission or not there was no immediate danger, so the Nara had no reason to rush. He was lazy after all. However, the lazy pace also made him more acute and thorough. There were three gates in total in between the fortified walls and basic defenses. A five-man squad of mercenaries tended to each gate at a time, but he couldn't determine what kind of signal they used to call for backup if the townspeople rebelled and tried to force their way through.

When he walked through the village itself he noticed the crowding issue. There was no way people wouldn't rebel when they have the numbers and enough anger-fueled support to overthrow the cult, it didn't make any sense. What were these people afraid of?

After searching for a long time, he finally spotted what he assumed was an actual cult member, a man in purple robes with a three-man mercenary escort. When the man turned the corner, Shikamaru's eyes widened at the symbol on the back of his robes. He'd seen that symbol before…

* * *

Kiba spent two whole hours staking out the mayor's hall. He knew immediately when he arrived that _someone_ , mayor or not… was in there because security was overflowing. Mercenaries were all over the surrounding streets and to the side of the entrance. Hell, they even put a squad on the roof… someone was paranoid.

He and Akamaru determined with their noses that there were about thirty guards… but he couldn't come up with an exact with civilians constantly coming and going so he could only estimate based on the ones who were always there. He was starting to lose some of his self-discipline when nothing had happened for so long. He was getting _very_ bored until a pair of men in purple robes arrived with an entourage of additional mercenary escorts. A third man in purple robes joined them, stepping out of the mayor's hall. The mercenaries that previously guarded the building signaled each other and filtered the streets out of civilians while others gathered around the trio Kiba concluded were the cultists. The squad on the roof remained, likely assigned to make sure no one broke in for one reason or another.

Akamaru quietly growled to get his masters attention. "What?" Kiba responded, looking closer at their backs.

"No way… that symbol," He muttered. "I want to follow them… but there are so many of these damn mercenaries it might be a very bad idea."

Akamaru wagged his tail and seemed to bark in agreement. "Right. Let's go find Anko-sensei."

* * *

Anko took it upon herself to listen to the villagers of Konalvera talk, paying visits to different restaurants and coffee places for recon purposes. There were few areas as a ninja in which Orochimaru did not excel, and he made sure that his student was much the same. Actually, he not only took her on reconnaissance missions personally, but also convinced Jiraiya to do a few with her. So Anko definitely had the best tutoring in the entire shinobi world when it came to gathering information off the streets. Not that she actually approved of like half of Jiraiya's methods of course… or even believed half of his methods were truly aimed at the goal he claimed them to be.

That said, she knew the perv was good at what he did, she saw it observed him first hand, even if a lot of it was regrettable. In the end, she had to admit… he contributed to what Orochimaru had already taught her. In just a couple hours she managed to scavenge a lot of pieces around the puzzle of the cult just by enjoying her small meals at each place and keeping her eyes and ears open.

As she expected, the people of Konalvera were very fearful of the cult. At one of the coffee places she visited, a member of the cult she presumed, wearing strange purple robes entered and the entire place suddenly fell near silent. Those who _dared_ talk did so at a mere whisper and no one would look up but Anko. If the cultist noticed Anko's lack of response or change in demeanor, he probably figured she was just an outsider who didn't yet know her place. If he cared, he didn't show it. The man sat at a table with his back to Anko and drank slurped his coffee audibly, as if he was just trying to intimidate the people even more or perhaps see if Anko would try and say something to him about his lack of manners.

Ignoring the bait, Anko did accidently spill on herself when she noticed the symbol on the back of the man's robes…

 ** _A/N:_** **I reaaallly wanted to make the chapter longer but I felt like leaving everyone in suspense of the symbol would be the way to go :P Ok fine I'm cruel… taking pleasure in your suspense! Maybe I've been writing Anko too much lol**

 **At any rate, hope you're all enjoying my made up arc.**


	5. Curse mark

**Chapter 5: Curse mark**

 ** _A/N:_** **As the title would suggest, you have an idea of what's coming. Okay, no actually you don't =) You may think you do but you don't Lol Enjoy**

"So, what's the big deal? What was the symbol you guys all saw?" Naruto impatiently asked.

Everyone reported back to the hotel and found out what room Naruto acquired then shared their findings, particularly the alarming one that there were a handful of men in robes that concealed their faces with a very familiar symbol on the back. The situation didn't seem like that big of a deal to him, so what had the rest of his team so grim? "The symbol was one that belonged to a clan… one we're all rather familiar with. The Yamanaka," Shikamaru replied.

"Yamanaka?" Naruto repeated. "Isn't one of our classmates a Yamanaka?" He thought aloud, trying to recall which one.

"I'll give you a hint," Kiba offered. " _Sasuke! Oh Sasuke!"_ He and Shikamaru couldn't hold back a moment of laughter that was completely unwarranted during a mission. Anko's glare returned them to the composed ninja she desired.

"It's Ino's clan."

Naruto had a hard time fighting back his own laughter but managed to when Anko started talking again. "The mercs are working for the cult, that much is obvious… To obtain their services, they're using the tax money from the mayor's hall which they gained control over through what I'd assume was a coup."

Shikamaru nodded. "That would make sense, but their defenses are awfully relaxed for a village that hasn't allowed anyone to escape with their life in what the Hidden Leaf estimated as about four months. I'm pretty sure we're missing something here, even if we now know there's a rogue Yamanaka around, I haven't seen any ninja at all. One ninja with light mercenary security shouldn't be able to hold everyone within these walls," The Nara analyzed.

Anko's facial expression looked different than the Genin team had seen in the two-ish weeks they'd known her. She actually appeared worried for her team, and worried about the mission _she_ went to a lot of trouble to get assigned to them. "The Yamanaka clan," she began. "Is arguably the most peaceful clan in the Hidden Leaf."

Shikamaru stared at his sensei like she was on LSD, thinking about all the times Ino was publicly rude towards Sakura, Choji, Naruto, Shino and even himself among others. She was known for being a bitch pretty much, and for her _annoying_ undying love for Sasuke who seemed to enjoy the attention about as much as Sakura enjoyed being her teammate.

"Politically, their clan falls more in line with the third Hokage than any other major powerhouse. Like the Hyuga, they never produce rogue ninja, which is remarkable. Those two clans show great loyalty towards the village, but in different ways. The Hyuga's loyalty falls in line with the head of the clan, and as long as Hiashi is around they won't become a problem for the Hidden Leaf. The Yamanaka on the other hand, is ran completely differently. They value peace and freedom and care little about their power or reputation," she went on.

"The reason why the Yamanaka clan never produces rogue ninja is they don't push themselves or each other to become anything they aren't or push each other to be stronger or abide by clan-law. The split between Clan-law and Village-Law generate controversy which breeds inner turmoil within a clan and that can lead to outcasting and I don't think I have to explain why that produces rogue ninja. Amazingly, there has only been _one_ Yamanaka since the founding of the village to betray us."

"So we've found him, that's good right? We can take him back to the Hokage," stated Kiba.

Anko gave him a stern and fierce look. "This is no longer a C-rank mission; it became an A-rank the moment we learned of his presence. We have to abandon the mission."

Naruto jumped up from his seat angrily. "WHAT!? No way! I'm not running like some coward! So there's one ninja! Big deal there's four of us we can take him!"

"You don't understand kid, this ninja is famous. After the nine-tails attacked our village, he cracked. According to the story as I was told, he secretly was practicing a forbidden jutsu to perfect a failed attempt at another jutsu the clan tried to develop. His squadmates found out and tried to stop him but he lashed out at them. That lunatic killed his best friends as well as several ANBU before he escaped the land of fire," she told him coldly.

Naruto was taken aback. "He killed his own squadmates!?" Anko merely nodded.

Kiba snorted in disgust. "Bastard."

 _A Yamanaka… squadmates, best friends._ "He killed Shibari Nara." It wasn't a question. Shikamaru pieced two stories together and instantly knew this ninja had killed a distant relative from his clan that he only knew of from stories of course. That didn't stop the Nara from feeling a twinge of anger and motivation funnel through his normally lazy personality. This was someone he felt obliged to take down, in the name of Ino-Shika-Cho.

"Don't even think about it kid," Anko stated, taking notice. "We're getting our asses out of here. By force if we have to, this mission is _way_ over your heads, and I'm not sure I can take him myself," she admitted. "It's the right call."

Kiba nodded with only minor hesitation, Naruto begrudgingly and Shikamaru reluctantly.

Without further protest, Anko lead them to the rooftop and team six began to make a push. Occasionally, a mercenary or two would try to intercept them but Anko easily dispatched them, preferring to blast them with kunai before they got close in order to keep up the pace she set. The four of them leapt off the last roof and landed in a rather convenient patch of green, somersaulting to smoothen the landing. Anko held up to make sure everyone was keeping up before taking point again, crossing the street and rushing towards the same gate they had arrived at earlier. A merc crept up behind them, and she launched another kunai. To her surprise, her ears halted her at the sound of it being deflected. The Genin halted with her and she realized that it wasn't a merc, it was one of the men in purple cultist robes.

" _Run!_ " She commanded her Genin team. "Force your way through the gate! I'll catch up," She asserted, knowing they wouldn't last five seconds against the rogue Yamanaka.

Kiba and Naruto wanted to protest but Shikamaru intervened. "Leave this to sensei! I don't like it either, but following orders is part of being a ninja. She can handle herself," He convinced them and they begrudgingly began to move on.

Anko, now without the burden of having to worry about defending her team… eyed the famous rogue coldly. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing back in the land of fire… But you're definitely not _welcome,_ " She declared, making a series of quick handseals and bringing her hand to her mouth, channeling her chakra.

"Fire-style: Fireball jutsu!" It was a very basic attack but she wasn't worried about being flashy. All that mattered was making it out of this alive and getting her team back to the Hidden Leaf in one piece. Who would've thought she'd be this responsible on her team's first _real_ mission?

The flames nearly overwhelmed the robed ninja but he evaded the worst of the attack despite it being at basically point-blank range. The robes however were less fortunate, catching on fire and forcing the shinobi to cast them aside before suffering any actual harm. Before her, stood a tall shinobi with long red hair wearing a Hidden Leaf chunin vest with a leaf headband. He had seemingly _lifeless_ yellow eyes, a tattoo on his forehead peeking out from behind the headband and a small goatee.

"The _fuck?"_ Anko blurted as she realized she knew this man. Well, more like recognized him from a couple missions she'd done; it obviously wasn't the rogue Yamanaka. _His eyes are… different._ She settled on, not knowing how better to describe the change. _I also don't remember him having that tat-_ She was taken aback slightly yet again when he realized the symbol on his forehead wasn't a tattoo, it was a curse mark.

* * *

The mercenaries guarding the gate saw the Genin coming and entered in a practiced formation as if they'd stopped fleeing civilians hundreds of times. Of course, this time they weren't apprehending farmers and merchants…

Shikamaru lagged slightly behind his comrades, searching for unaccounted mercs (Not that Kiba and Akamaru wouldn't have picked up their scent, but it could always pay to be cautious, their abilities could be disrupted) Satisfied that their flanks were clear, he focused on the guards which Kiba and Naruto didn't seem to need his help with.

"Shadow clone jutsu," Naruto muttered while charging them, promptly turning into three. Kiba and Akamaru divided each other's attention on the remaining two. The three Naruto's each picked a target and charged straight at it. The mercs prepared to make him look like a fool, raising their various types of swords. But at the last moment, the furthest left and middle Naruto's pulled out shuriken and ignored the merc they were running at, instead spraying the next ones over. The middle and right mercs were taken out before they knew what hit them, but the left merc who had no one attacking him stabbed through Naruto's chest. He vanished in a poof of smoke and the confused merc was met with the sight of the other clone and the original Naruto charging at him with kunai.

 _Who knew Naruto was capable of using tactics?_ Shikamaru thought absentmindedly.

One of the other mercenaries, annoyed at being matched up with a _puppy_ swung his spiked-club downward in frustration as he missed his small target yet again. Akamaru saw an opening in his opponents defense, one that only he could've exploited. In an unforeseen move, the merc was exasperated as Akamaru crawled up his pant leg. It was quite amusing to watch, the ninja-pup worked his way up the leg no doubt biting here and there along the way indicated by the merc's screams. Akamaru eventually came to a stop just below the hip area but continued to gnaw on his skin. The merc pulled his weapon out the dirt, eying the outline of the dog with care, making sure it wasn't going to move again.

 _This is a terrible idea._ Shikamaru analyzed.

"Take this you stupid mutt!" He bellowed, swinging the spiked-club at the outline.

Akamaru somehow was aware of this apparently, because he moved around the other side of the leg, and the club busted deep into the fool's hipbone. Naruto apparently was done with his last merc because his laughter made the merc's embarrassment even worse. Akamaru navigated his way out of his pants and returned to his master, who was slowly walking away from his target who was knocked out with a few bloodstains on the mask he wore. "Good boy Akamaru!" He praised picking the ninja-hound up and placing him on top of his head.

"Something tells me you didn't teach him that move," Shikamaru mused.

The merc eyed them all with hatred, but was in so much pain he really didn't care if they escaped. It wasn't his problem anymore his hip was shattered that counts as wounded.

"Nope, but what do you expect? None of these losers were a match for Akamaru!" Kiba declared.

The merc growled (how ironic) at him in response but kept his mouth shut. Sure he felt disgraced after losing to a puppy but he still wanted to live…

"All right, we've wasted enough time, let's go!" Shikamaru urged and they started towards the gate, only to be met with a purple robed figure blocking the way.

They halted with caution. "I-Is that the same one?" Kiba asked with fear for Anko.

"I don't think so," Shikamaru responded. "There are several of these guys wearing the robes, maybe we were wrong to think none of them could fight. We all basically assumed that the one Anko is fighting was the rogue Yamanaka ninja, but maybe he's not the only one."

"What? You think that maybe all these purple robed guys and rogue ninja?" Naruto blurted.

"Possibly… but maybe not. It's just speculation," Shikamaru affirmed. Shikamaru seemed so much more… experienced than his teammates even though this was as much as his first mission as it was theirs. Some of his comments and analysis seemed so ahead of them, and it kept catching Kiba and Naruto by surprise over and over.

"It doesn't matter," Kiba stepped forward. "Sensei ordered us to get the hell out of here and that's what we're gonna do!"

Naruto and Shikamaru smirked. "Right," they agreed albeit Shikamaru less enthusiastically.

"Three on one, we've got the advantage," Naruto judged.

" _Four_ on one," Kiba corrected, letting Akamaru down. "And I don't think we should waste any time warming up!" He told his teammates while pulling out food pills for himself and Akamaru.

The purple robed figure did not reply, just slipped into his taijutsu stance. Shikamaru stared him down, trying to pinpoint in his mind where he'd seen the stance before. "Guys, Naru-Shika-zuka," The other two nodded in agreement and prepared.

The red version of Akamaru transformed into a copy of Kiba. "Ninja-Art: Man beast mimicry," He announced as he too dropped on all fours and his body made beast-like adoptions.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto followed making about ten copies.

Kiba and Akamaru charged in first. "Fang over fang!" Kiba shouted as they performed his special piecing fang taijutsu attack. The two figures of Kiba seemed to spin violently and converge on the target in sequence. The purple robed warrior kept his composure and avoided the first attacks and also watched out for a follow up from Naruto but it did not come. Kiba and Akamaru made their recovery for a second attack run with surprising quickness. Because of his discipline to predict the follow up from Naruto, he was caught slightly off-guard by how quick the beasts managed to come after him again.

Still, the ninja was able to narrowly evade the intersecting paths of Akamaru and his master. The shadow clones remained as they were; the final ninja stayed back. _Must be a long-range fighter._ The Inuzuka and his partner prepared to make a third attack run but their adversary had no intention of dodging this time. He charged right at Kiba, extending his palm out but Naruto's clones barraged him with shuriken and forced him to abort the attack. Kiba and Akamaru however weren't slowed down in the slightest.

No time to dodge, the ninja sought to injure his foes in the process of their attack, but when he attempted to pull various weapons out he froze in one place. His all-seeing eyes widened at the realization that he was caught in a shadow paralysis jutsu and succumbed to being pummeled by the fang over fang pattern.

Shikamaru smirked. "It was a drag, but it looks like our practice paid off, good work," He praised his teammates. Naru-Shicka-zuka as he dubbed it, much like the Ino-Shicka-Cho, was designed to emphasize each team member's specialties and use strategy to gang up on an isolated opponent(s). They had only worked out one or two formations but it was nice to see one of them work in an actual fight. In this case, Naruto created shadow clones but held himself out of the fray only intended to be backup and to provide cover fire for the main force. Kiba and Akamaru using fang over fang had the simple and straight forward job, try to defeat the enemy. If the opponent made an attempt to fight back the Naruto's were to stop him at all cost, or even have a clone sacrifice himself to spare Kiba or Akamaru a hit. Meanwhile, Shikamaru simply looked for a chance to snare the enemy with shadow possession.

Shikamaru forced the other shinobi to get back on his feet using his jutsu and then proceeded to take off his jacket, which also allowed him to remove the enemy's purple robes. Under the robes, was a peculiar yellow eyed man with long dark hair and a tattoo on his forehead wearing a leaf ninja Chunin vest. Shikamaru chuckled. "Just as I thought, a Hyuga."

"Those eyes…" Naruto pointed out, well one of the Naruto's. "They look like Hinata's!" He exclaimed.

Kiba nodded. "It's the Byakugan, the Hyuga clan's kekkei genkai."

"Kekkei genkai?" Naruto repeated.

Shikamaru and Kiba sighed in unison. "Not now…"

The Nara eyed the Hyuga with interest. "Why are you doing this?" He questioned their supposed 'ally.' His question was met with silence.

"Start talking, or my teammates are gonna rearrange your body parts in a manner that your Byakugan won't even be able to assess," The Genin suggested with amusement, practically forgetting they were supposed to be running away. To their surprise the Hyuga began laughing darkly and his eyes closed as his smirk broadened.

"What's so funny!? You're the _Chunin_ that lost to a brand new Genin team!" Kiba taunted.

"You think-"the Hyuga was cut off.

"It is-"another purple robed ninja appeared walking through the other side of the gates.

"Over," a final robed ninja stated from on top of the walls.

His reinforcements' strange entrance finishing his sentence in a succinct, seemingly practiced order unnerved the Genin, especially now that the first ninja was revealed to be Chunin level it was expected these two were as well, and now their escape route was cut off. As if their new enemies' goal was to continue strange courses of action, they casted their robes aside and revealed themselves to be leaf ninja as well.

Shikamaru gazed into their strange lifeless yellow eyes and took notice that both of the newcomers had the same tattoo on their foreheads. He'd heard of the Hyuga clan placing a curse mark on the branch members of the family so he'd assumed that was all he had seen, but apparently he was wrong. Still, it was highly likely that it was a curse mark, one that must originate from the rogue Yamanaka. It actually made sense, the Yamanaka clan used mind-based jutsu's… so the forbidden jutsu he practiced was a curse mark that allowed him to enslave people to his will.

"Damn, I figured out the Yamanaka's forbidden jutsu," Shikamaru announced.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the heart of Konalvera's village, a rogue ninja peaked with interest.

"How could those brats possibly know who I am? Interesting…" He spoke to himself, repeating what the Genin that sported a pineapple shaped haircut said in his mind over and over.

"So they know who I am. Most unexpected, but they clearly are not well informed. They clearly know nothing of the details behind my jutsu; he's only uncovered the basics."

"I shall enjoy this recruiting opportunity," he chided to himself.

* * *

Anko evaded the red haired ninja's trench knives in spite of their precision and recognized that he was using the same trick Asuma did. _Chakra blades and he's even a Wind style user._ She noted. The ninja's long hair was blown back by the wind chakra as he poured a large amount of chakra into one of the blades and struck through Anko's chest with emotionless satisfaction.

"Pitiful," Spoke the lifeless appearing shinobi. "Your Genin are outlasting their Jonin," He chuckled darkly. "How the Hidden Leaf has fallen in my absence."

The possessed ninja retracked his knife and began to turn around but stopped as it was Anko's turn to laugh darkly. "This is gonna be fun," She declared with a deadly smile that rivaled her mentor. Her opponent stared at her emotionless but waited for her to either do something, or die off.

With a grunt that actually made the situation sound even more disgusting than it truly was, she threw up a fresh albeit very slimy body. The possessed ninja gazed at the remains of the last body in confusion as it slumped to the ground. "I think I understand your jutsu now," She commented, ignoring the slime dripping off of her forehead. "That tattoo is actually a curse mark; you captured a missing team of leaf shinobi and branded them with it to bend them to your will. And I'm pretty sure you can hear me right now you bastard," She stated with a deadly calm.

"Just know," She continued. "That I'm coming for you and if you kill any of my Genin I promise to make this the worst day of your life!" She threatened and lashed out at the shinobi before her.

The wind-style user fought back valiantly, his master determined to keep the battle close-ranged to limit Anko's opportunity to use jutsu. After all, she displayed fire jutsu which trumped wind so he didn't have much of a choice other than to pressure her in a war of taijutsu and weapons. Anko saw through the tactics of course, but felt confident in her close range jutsus so she played along by exchanging blows and avoiding the wind powered trench knives.

The long haired slave made a swipe at her midsection with one of the trench knives but Anko jumped backwards. "Striking shadow snakes!" She countered, summoning a quartet of snakes threw her sleeves catching the other shinobi off guard and wrapping them around his neck. Unperturbed, the slave sliced right through them with a trench knife but she capitalized on it as a distraction nailing him in the face with a kick that sent him flying.

Attempting to rise quickly he was almost too late to notice the volley of shuriken headed his way but countered making a few quick handseals activating a wind-style jutsu that allowed him to blow a power gust of air through his lips that reflected the shuriken back to their owner who effortlessly caught each of them between her fingers.

"Not bad," She admitted. Then almost evilly, "But not good enough," she warned, as the sadistic side arose and doing a trademark lick of her lips extending the tongue more than she normally did.

The slave charged at her, obeying the Yamanaka's wish that keep the battle from developing into a long ranged one… where he was sure to fail. Half way to his target, a snake shot up from underground and bit an artery in his leg with a vile poison. The smirking Anko lifted her pant leg up slightly, revealing one of her shadow snakes spawned out of her pant leg and tunneled downward for a trap. The cursed shinobi soon passed out and she withdrew her shadow snake. "He should be able to stay alive for an hour or two without being given the antidote," She considered. _I can't give it to him now and risk him being awoken through his curse mark… I have to help my team, if they've even managed to live this long_.

Anko frowned suddenly. "No, he wouldn't kill them… he'd just brand them with curse marks!" She realized.

* * *

Shikamaru struggled back to his feet, highly annoyed. Rather than being able to pick their enemies, they were forced onto the defense. One of the slaves attacked him and freed the Hyuga from his shadow possession. Then, as if knowing it was a massive mismatch for the Nara, he left the Hyuga to fight him and of course… Shikamaru's taijutsu was nothing short of horrendous. When he tried to capture the Hyuga or at least keep him from getting close he only managed to burn his chakra out until his reserves were so low he felt that should save what was left for an emergency moment where he may need to save his teammates. But who was he kidding? He wasn't going to save anyone with the gentle fist closing all his tenketsu points.

Kiba growled as Akamaru was knocked back into a tree and the transformation jutsu disabled. He appeared knocked out cold. "Big mistake!" He spat, lunging at the yellow eyed ninja.

Naruto let out a battle cry as he tried his hardest to puncture the possessed Jonin's defenses but was worse luck than that old pervert had when Anko realized he'd been following her that one time. The enslaved Jonin leader pounded him in the ribs three times and launched him away with a powerful kick to the skull. The Yamanaka let out an amused chuckled as he saw through the vision of his slave that Naruto was actually trying to get up again. It was amazing that blow didn't give him a concussion.

Naruto clenched his broken ribs in pain and winced at the sight of Kiba being flung into the air by a wind jutsu that sent him skidding across the grass. The ninja was heading over to where he stopped and was going to follow up with a jutsu. "Damn it!" Naruto cursed creating a large group of shadow clones.

"You guys keep this guy busy! Hold him off as long as you can!" He ordered them.

"You can count on us!" One of them shouted. "Yeah! Believe it!" Another chorused and they went on the offensive.

Meanwhile the original rushed over to Kiba as fast as he could manage. It seemed like he was actually going to make it in time to interupt the opposing ninja before he could unleash the lightning jutsu as he dove forward leading in with his should planning to strike him right in the spine. But suddenly, as if somehow knowing the was there the slave leapt up and Naruto was caught in midair wide open to attack. Instead of striking Kiba, he blasted Naruto with the lightning jutsu electrocuting him profusely.

"Naurto!" Shikamaru shouted from a distance but paid for it heavily as the gentle fist attack plunged at one of his organs, silencing the Nara. He coughed up blood, a lot of blood and fell down in severe pain.

"Nighty-Night, Nara," the dark voice chuckled through the lightning-style using "subordinate." Using that one instead of the Hyuga to intentionally try to anger the other two Genin.

Naruto's eyes were forced to look up from the dirt to watch Shikamaru fall and he grinded his teeth, which suddenly grew into a more beast-like nature. The grass shrieked as his hands clamped around it in rage and he actually began to stand up yet again, to both Kiba and the Yamanaka's amazement. His normally ocean blue eyes turned into a pair of blood lusting red and his voice took a gruff pitch, creating a new wave of shadow clones. He merely nodded to them and that was all the instruction they needed.

By now the three possessed leaf ninja rallied together but _this_ wave of clones was fucking huge. There were at least sixty Naruto's putting their 'lives' on the line to buy the original and Kiba a little extra time.

Kiba stared in total shock at the amount of clones his teammate managed to create; just think this same guy failed a much simpler graduation test _three_ times. "Kiba," He muttered with mildly controlled ferocity.

"Y-Yeah?" The Inuzuka replied a little unnerved at seeing this previously unknown side of his teammate.

"Anko-sensei taught you a new jutsu, right?" Kiba merely nodded, seeing where he was going.

"Why don't you give it a shot? Cause I don't have more jutsu to try on them, but we can't give up!" Naruto shouted, succumbing to the rage a bit further.

Kiba sighed. "I'm not very good with it yet, but if I did perform it correctly, it may be of some use to us," he admitted.

"Do it," Naruto urged.

Kiba nodded and took a deep breath to calm down a bit before performing the handsigns and then biting his thumb before he prepared to finish the sequence. _Here goes nothing._ He thought. Smacking his hand on the ground as the jutsu came to a close, a poof of smoke detonated and after a moment of anticipation revealed an absolutely PUNY three-headed snake that was barely six centimeters in lenth. Naruto almost forgot about his rage and nearly fell over as Kiba cursed in frustration.

"I told you I'm not good at it yet!" Kiba cursed before Naruto even had a chance to make any sort of a sarcastic comment.

The sixty shadow clones were poofing left and right, it wouldn't be long before the tired and battered Genin were forced to fight again outnumbered and outmatched.

"Can it really be?! Our firssst summon!" One of the heads of the baby snake exclaimed.

"Yesss! Finally!" Another head agreed.

Kiba squinted at them in slight surprise. _So I actually managed to summon one that can talk… I guess that's an improvement at least._

Naruto grimaced as his shadow clones were diminished to five, though still angry, the demon features of the Kyuubi were subsiding.

The three snake heads eyed the area with interest. "So you've summoned us of battle," The middle head suggested.

"We're still very young…" a vile yet feminine voice residing with the right head reminded her brothers.

"That doesss not matter!" The left head scowled. "We're not totally usssslesss!"

Kiba wasn't sure what the hell to think of what was sadly his best summon thus far.

The final five shadow clones disposed of, Naruto and Kiba feared the worst as the three slaves were about to move in on them, but before that could happen the voice of the snake Sannin's former pupil made her presence known. The Yamanaka was quite aware of her in thanks to his Byakugan user, but paid her no mind until she spoke the words.

"You want me to give you another example, Kiba?" She offered. Her Genin's heads shot up to the right in surprise but hope was restored in their eyes.

"Summoning jutsu!" She grinned, as a gigantic three-headed snake arose out of thin air.

Naruto looked on wide eyed but didn't complain one bit. Kiba gave a knowing smirk; this was what he was hoping to accomplish himself now that the pressure was actually on.

"She summoned our fathers!" The female head of the baby snake informed the Genin duo.

"Hi Kynx, your brothers been keeping you out of trouble?" She playfully greeted, staring at the middle head.

"Hello Anko, what do you require of us?" He hissed, somewhat angrily.

"Don't mind him, he'sss just upssset you interrupted his sssslumber," The left head stated informatively, and Kiba realized that the three heads of both the father snakes and the baby snakes appeared to pass the resemblance on in order of heads. The left ones were alike, as were the middle ones and to a more difficult to gage extent as the right head of the baby was a female but the right head of the other was a male apparently. She did say fathers after all.

"This is awesome! I can't believe she's teaching you such a cool jutsu!" Naruto stated with a mixture of excitement and jealousy.

The possessed shinobi at the will of their master retreated towards the gate of Konalvera. "Sssshall we?" The left head prompted his brothers.

"Hey! No killing this time!" Anko ordered.

"Killjoy," The right head finally joined the conversation.

"Yeah I know," Anko replied glumly, she was actually standing on top of the one she called Kynx, the middle head.

The trio of possessed leaf ninja didn't stand much of a chance at escaping, the three-headed snake slithered with surprising speed to complement its tremendous size. Eventually it caught up to the slaves and the right head extended his neck out and landing on the ground blocking their path hissing at them in a taunting fashion. The group began to turn left but the left head mimicked his brother to forbid them from fleeing that way as well.

"Take em' alive Kynx," Anko reminded the middle head.

"Yes I know!" He replied, apparently still flustered about having to wake up to apprehend these damn ninja.

Without further warning the head known as Kynx zoomed in on his targets mouth open wide and ATE them. Naruto and Kiba stared in total disbelief.

"What the hell!" Naruto blurted. "She told him not to kill them! He didn't even listen! I guess this jutsu ain't so cool afterall," he moaned.

The baby snake's middle head hissed violently at him. "He captured them, they are safe. This was what your sensei was asking him to do!" It corrected him, though Naruto was still rather skeptical.

"Really?" He scratched his head.

"I can't believe how easy that was… after they kicked our butts like we were flies or something!" Kiba complained as the two of them (along with the baby snake on Kiba's shoulder) rounded Shikamaru and Akamaru up to examine them.

Kynx lowered his head for Anko to hop off and join her team and the three-headed adult took watch for them. Akamaru was banged up but Kiba seemed convinced that he would be okay. She eyed Shikamaru's condition with complete seriousness. "What happened?"

"He got stuck facing off against that Hyuga guy! But I'm not sure what he specifically did to him."

Anko's fists clenched fearing the worst. First real mission and she was sure one of her Genin was in a deadly condition. Neither Naruto nor Kiba were oblivious to the look of concern she tried not to show, which worried them too, but the mission wasn't over.

"Anko," The right head called down to them. "Company, a single shinobi. Purple robes."

Anko's expression turned around completely, though it may have been greatly falsified. "Bastard decided to show himself then, eh?"

When the robed figure came within view she shouted out. "I advise you surrender now!" She stopped to paste a sadistic glee on her face. "Before I enjoy this too much! Inoanji Yamanaka."

 ** _A/N:_** **I am aware that Anko isn't supposed to have every one of the jutsu Orochimaru has that she will have throughout my story. The difference yet again lies with Orochimaru not being a real traitor and his longer tenure with the Hidden Leaf… she learned more from him simply put.**

 **I had a lot of fun writing this one hope it satisfies yall**


	6. Hiss of Calamity

**Chapter 6: The Hiss of Calamity**

 ** _A/N:_** **Not much to comment on, the rest of the Inoanji Yamanaka arc. Enjoy**

Kynx's slit pupils eyed Inoanji Yamanaka with annoyance as he worked his way towards the battlefield. "What about this one, can he perish?" The oversized reptile appealed to Anko.

"Couldn't care less," She permitted with tainted joy.

"Exxxcellent," The left head joined in with satisfaction.

Kynx however had no interest in letting his brother get the first shot at the shinobi. "Fire-style: Poisonous flare!" He screamed and fire shot out from his mouth like a flamethrower with a venomous acid-like liquid spraying out in a deadly combo.

"Wow they have their own jutsu's…" Naruto realized, stunned that he just watched a giant snake perform fire jutsu.

"Did you get him or not?" The right head snapped in annoyance as smoke from the burning grass and trees that got caught in the blast obscured his vision.

"I don't know!" Kynx admitted in annoyance.

The left head peered his head closer but also could not see a flaming corpse or any sign of the rogue ninja. He grunted and extended his neck until he actually detached from his brothers and slithered around the flames solo.

Naruto fascinated once again looked to Kiba questioningly. "Did you know they could do that?"

"No," Kiba shook his head. "They're full of surprises, trust me."

The baby snake seemed to take joy in the Geinin pair's tendency to be stunned by their fathers and decided to show off themselves, each detaching and slithering around Kiba's coat in solo fashion. However they reassembled disappointedly when the Genin duo seemed completely uninterested when they did it. They were almost like a little kid pouting that they were being ignored for being young and… less capable than their father's figure.

Ironically, it was the flames that provided Inoanji Yamanaka the needed cover when he stepped out from behind the tree and took on a jutsu sign aiming carefully at Kynx. "Mind transfer jutsu," he murmured, and his figure collapsed.

Kynx's body shimmered and drew the attention of his right, still attached brother. "What is it? You see something?" He asked, but Kynx laughed in a familiar tone that the leaf ninja were all too familiar with.

Kiba gasped. "Did he get him with the curse mark?" Recognizing the voice as the same one that spoke to them through the possessed ninja earlier.

Anko shook her head. "No… He used his family's jutsu," she realized irritably. Her expression turned around quickly though as an idea quickly formulated in her head to counter. "I'll just reverse the summon and them back, that should disrupt your jutsu to the point it could kill you."

Inoanji heard her threat clearly and considered the possibility of it being a bluff as she'd be putting the snake at risk too but wasn't going to toy around with the chance. She was definitely a product of Orochimaru's teachings… and that guy had a cruel and twisted side to him when he wanted to be. Inoanji remembered. _No matter… I can still fulfill the purpose of this move._ He reminded himself of his objective and proceeded to hurl up the ninja slaves free.

Their bodies skidded across the grassy terrain covered in a disgusting slime reminiscent to that of Anko's jutsu when she shed her skin. Inoanji disabled the mind transfer jutsu before the snakes were relieved of their duties in a poof of smoke. Unlike the remnants of his ex-family, his body immediately regained consciousness and he sat up, casually watching Anko slowly approaching the bodies of his slaves. He made a handsign and reactivated their curse marks, springing them back to consciousness.

The yellow eyes of the Yamanaka curse mark jutsu opened their gazes onto Anko as the slimy trio raised back to their feet. The Hyuga activated his byakugan and Anko's attention was diverted to the sound of victorious laughter coming from the side. Inoanji walked out into the open grinning at the Snake Sannin's former pupil. His purple robes discarded, they could now see the rogue ninja was tall as the other Yamanaka's they'd seen and had the trademark long blonde hair. A diagonal scar was engraved into the skin surrounding his right eye, which was bizarrely yellow like his slaves whereas his left eye was normal and similar to Ino's. The Yamanaka curse mark was branded onto his neck, which lead Anko to the conclusion that he lost his left eye in battle and was forced to repair himself through a combination of surgery and his own curse mark jutsu. He wore all black attire, his pants being spandex while he had a leather vest around his chain mail outfit.

"Now that I've regained my advantage, I believe we're finished here," He pronounced. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way Anko… One way or another, I will brand all of you with my curse mark… and gain an even stronger foothold over this place," he rambled. "Eventually I will mark or kill every Hidden Leaf shinobi in the Land of Fire! It's up to you whether or not your final moments under your own power are painful or not."

"You talk big," Anko sneered. "But what makes you think you could ever take on the whole village?"

The rogue snorted and his normal eye rolled at her insinuation. "I never said I could, yet. But once I have freed the ninetails…" his voice paused to shoot Naruto a glance. "The Kyuubi and I will make a deal and put all five of the Great Shinobi nations to ruins!" He proclaimed.

Shock inspired silence swept squad six and he continued. "I'm sure the ninetails will be very appreciative; my jutsu will have no problem at all destroying Minato's seal, each person I mark is linked to my brain," he explained. "My knowledge and mind have become so advanced that I am able to control the actions of all my subordinates and my own at the same time… I can _see_ four separate viewpoints, one from each of these three," he gestured his possessed accomplices. "And my own. Of course, with the Byakugan comes an even more impressive gift of vision. To top it off, their knowledge of jutsu is intertwined with my own and I just _can't wait_ to add your snake jutsus, the Nara kid's shadow possession, the Inuzuka brat's sense of smell and well… I already mentioned what I want from Naruto," He finished gloating and smiled deviously.

Naruto's fist clenched in disgust and Anko watched hoping he'd be smart and stay put. "What is he talking about?" Kiba asked, knowing he was missing a piece of information.

"Aw," Inoanji mocked. "You didn't tell him? Was that a secret? I'm sooo sorry…" he taunted, hoping to draw the Jinchuriki's anger out.

Naruto looked down in defeat. "The fourth Hokage… didn't kill the Kyuubi, it was too powerful. In order to save the village he had to seal it in a newborn baby, and the unfortunate choice of host… was me," he confessed. "I am the ninetail's prison."

Kiba stared at him with initial disbelief but thoughts struck him that made him know it to be true. It explained how Naruto was able to generate so many clones, and why he seemed sub-human when the slaves angered him after defeating Shikamaru. The change in his eyes… the teeth and his voice. It also explained why his minor injuries during training were always gone the next day. He then realized Naruto wasn't expecting a warm reaction to giving this information away.

Kiba put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it," He told him, glaring at Inoanji. "That isn't your fault, and we aren't going to lose to this jerk," The Inuzuka calmly affirmed.

"Right," Naruto agreed, relieved by the quick acceptance. "So he can forget about destroying the Great Shinobi Nations! If he can't do that without the ninetails… then he's out of luck, because I won't lose!"

Anko chuckled. Her Genin were unlike the young teams she'd seen over the years, they were passionate, determined (okay, that's a stretch for Shikamaru) and… she couldn't figure out what it was about them… that made her feel like being a Jonin squad leader wasn't going to suck as much as it sounded to her over the last few years.

Inoanji snorted. "Hn, your Genin have balls Anko. Too bad they chose this line of profession maybe they could've made something of their selves."

Anko kept her eyes fixated on the enemies while barking orders. "Guard Shikamaru! He's in rough shape but I doubt it will stop him from rising under the power of the curse mark; so don't let him apply it at any cost,"

Naruto and Kiba grunted having not considered that. "Right, but how are you going to fight them all?" Naruto inquired unconvinced.

"Have some faith kid, if I wasn't capable of facing the pressure when shit hits the fan I never would've lived long enough to become a Jonin."

Kiba shook Akamaru just a tad bit more than lightly. "C'mon boy…" Deciding there wasn't much choice, he popped his last food pill into his mouth hopefully.

He sighed in relief to see the dog's eyelids lift slowly. "Sorry Akamaru," he told him, patting his head. "But we need your help."

"Man, even I'm getting kind of low on chakra," Naruto complained as he made three shadow clones to make a stronger defense around his downed teammate.

Inoanji silently dispatched his Hyuga slave to a somewhat distant location, with intent of keeping his prized eyes safe from Anko's attacks, ensuring that he would be able to rely on the visual kekkei genkai. Without further warning, his two other slaves charged the enemy. One headed towards Anko, and the other towards the Genin and ninja hound on guard duty.

"Where do you think you're going?" Anko snapped, shooting a flurry of chains through her sleeve grabbing the slave that avoided her by the throat. Her other hand blocked a few strikes with her kunai from the other possessed ninja and swept his legs. The captured one caught her off guard however, as Inoanji's voice spoke through him. "Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms!" He declared and his hands attacked in nothing more than a blur, making contact with the chains rapidly until her grip around him collapsed. The chains transformed, revealing that they were actually venomous snakes.

"Thanks to the Byakugan… it will be a lot harder to deceive me with a trick like that," Inoanji spoke through the slave.

"That was a Hyuga technique he used…" she noted. _Great, he has a viewpoint from every body he possesses, and can spread their techniques out through any of them. In theory, we're fighting prototypes of ultimate ninja. At least he doesn't have the sharingan._

Inoanji smirked at Anko's confusion. "I told you already, I _know_ their jutsu. And soon I will have yours!" He shouted and lunged out at her personally. _The Yamanaka curse mark is the ultimate jutsu, you're all just too dense to come to that realization. No one could stand up to the Hidden Leaf had they just swallowed their pride and recognized the Yamanaka's newfound greatness!_ Inoanji ranted to himself.

Anko dismissed those snakes and made her hand signs as quick as she could. "Earth-style rock clone."

"Woah, she made a shadow clone? But it's different…" One of the Uzamaki's observed.

"It's stronger than yours; she supports it with an earth element which makes it harder to kill," Kiba explained, remembering something like this in class. Though they had not learned about shadow clones, or rock clones for that matter… he could put two and two together regarding the basic notes of clones and the basic knowledge they had been taught about the elements.

"You seem to prefer ninjutsu; let's see if your taijutsu can stand up to the Gentle fist!"

The real Inoanji charged Anko and one of his slaves went after her rock clone. The third split off and went for the Genin while the Byakugan user remained at a safe distance. _Sorry brats, I've got my hands full as it is_! Anko inwardly griped as she evaded Inoanji's stolen ninja art. _You'll have to hold your own._

His open palms lashed out with perfect mimicry of the Hyuga clan member's that Anko had sparred against on a couple occasions years ago. Thankfully, she could recognize the movements well enough to avoid or block most attacks without actually allowing the Yamanaka to close chakra points. Still, she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. Her rock clone was faring well too, but she was at a greater risk being made of nothing but chakra with earth reinforcement to it. The clone would not last.

Anko began to see the pattern in his movements and began to knock the initial rust off of her strategy against a gentle fist user. She had only sparred before, and that was as a favor to prepare her for the possibility that she had to fight a Hyuga in the chunin exams, which never happened but it would appear those spars would come in handy several years later. She side stepped a palm aimed at her chest and countered with a kick her opponent should not have been able to avoid due to his exposure from his own attack but somehow he was able to twist out of the way awkwardly as he managed to predict the movement.

She proceeded her advantage while his defense was in an inadequate stance but to her annoyance he somehow avoiding every strike she threw at him no matter how improbable it seemed, he wasn't blocking… he was _dodging_ in spite of being in very bad position. After evading over twelve strikes Anko just stopped and glared at him; he steadied himself in a more proper position and just smirked at her.

 _I know he has the Byakugan helping him, but no Hyuga that I've ever seen is that invincible… especially when caught out of form. Besides the Byakugan doesn't gift its user with the ability to read, predict and copy their enemy's attacks like the sharingan._

The rock clone shrieked as a palm flashed through her defense and nailed her in the heart dispelling the chakra and killing it.

Anko considered the situation, and remembered a story Orochimaru had told her when she was just a Genin. The Sharingan and Byakugan were exemplary visual jutsu, but there was a third, known as the Rinnegan. It was thought to be nothing more than a myth by many, but Orochimaru claimed it actually existed, and that he had seen a child that possessed it. One of the abilities he told her about was that using either chakra receivers or a cloning jutsu… a Rinnegan user could see what all of his counterparts saw, which eliminated blind spots in battle. Obviously, this was not the Rinnegan, but the ability seemed to fit the description. Inoanji eliminated any chance of having a blind spot and by keeping his Byakugan user out of the battle, he can focus the kekkei genkai solely on analyzing our attacks, making it far easier to defend himself.

With the rock clone eliminated the slave joined his master confronting the Leaf Jonin. _I have to stop fighting on his terms… The best way to do that is to take away his greatest asset._ She strategized silently, glancing off to the most distant possessed ninja.

* * *

The rogue's final slave's role was to dispatch the Genin without killing them, which was no problem since Inoanji was basically all of them at the same time. He was too careful to kill any of his prizes off… especially the Kyuubi.

"Kiba," One of the Naruto's beckoned. "This is the guy you were fighting what does he like to do?"

"Like you already saw he can use wind and lightning style chakra; he's also dangerous taijutsu threat, and likes to throw senbon needles," he quickly relayed.

Inoanji channeled his dark laughter through the slave yet again. "Bravo for your observation boy; as a reward, I'm going to turn it up a notch."

"Why don't you just shut up for once?" One of the Naruto's shot back.

The yellow eyes of the curse mark jutsu didn't even flicker as he chuckled in response, reaching for the senbon needles Kiba mentioned. _This body has fallen out of the Byakugan's range. That snake bitch may have been luring the battle that way to force me into sending him further back… thus making things less impossible on her Genin. No matter, there is no way two Genin, a couple shadow clones and a mutt are going to keep up with my Jonin level subordinate._ Inoanji determined.

The Genin drew their kunai in response to the sight of senbon needles but Inoanji's slave barely acknowledged their attempt at defense. He launched the first volley of senbon and watched all of them get deflected or dodged by each of his targets just as he expected. He nodded. "Very good, now let's see you try this… Weapons art: Wind-style senbon!" He announced, launching volley number two. This time the senbon needles were fueled with wind chakra and were propelled seemingly twice as fast. One of Naruto's clones avoided them all but the other two 'died.' The original Naruto and Kiba as well suffered one strike and winced at the additional power behind them. Akamaru's small size played its advantage out and he was unscathed.

The slave reached into a pouch to bring more senbon needles out for another volley delighted by their resilience. "Lightning-style senbons," He revealed as they left his fingers.

This time, none of them could even track the speed at which they were thrown. Kiba and Naruto both found themselves smothered by senbon and collapsed. The clone died, and even Akamaru was struck that time and laid down in agony.

 _Those needles didn't hurt as bad as the wind senbon, but they were impossibly fast…_ Kiba considered. _And it's a lot worse when you get hit by half a dozen of them._

"Naruto, Akamaru?" He voiced, struggling to his knees.

Akamaru whimpered but Naruto did not acknowledge him. Inoanji laughed through the cursed leaf ninja mockingly. "Looks like I win boy. Your techniques, your bodies… and the ninetails are all mine."

Kiba felt the baby snake slither up to his ear. "I told you… we're not totally ussslesss," The left head reiterated. "It's time for you to change your sssstrategy."

* * *

Naruto groaned as his eyes reopened, and was startled to see he was no longer just within the gates of Konalvera. _Wherever_ he was, it was very dark and he could hear the sound of something massive… breathing?

"BOY!" Naruto jumped and turned around at the voice. An enormous beast with _1..2..3.._ 9 tails was crouched within a cage. He growled at his Jinchuriki through the bars of his seal.

 _T-The Kyuubi…_ He realized.

"I felt your consciousness begin to waver, and decided it was time for a chat," The ninetails growled.

"Go to hell!" Naruto snapped.

"That's exactly where we're going if you don't listen to me, stupid human."

Naruto was taken aback by that statement. Didn't Inoanji claim he was going to make a deal with the ninetails? Wasn't this the Kyuubi's shot at freedom?

"Inoanji Yamanaka," He spat. "Needs to _die_!"

Seeing his host's confusion he elaborated. "That scoundrel intends to use his various clan jutsu to prevent me from killing him. He's very powerful with his jutsus, and is one of the few shinobi in the world that can hold me at bay and even use me against my will. His mind jutsus are so advanced that even I cannot shatter their hold, which means even if he isn't able to brand me with his curse mark… he will control me. I wish not to be his slave anymore than I wish to be trapped behind this damn seal."

Naruto, stunned just nodded and the Kyuubi continued. "You do not care about what I want, and that is fine. Just know that for him to get to me, you will certainly die. So both of us are at stake here."

"Ok…" Naruto conceded the point. "What do you want?"

"Let me have a small bit more access to your chakra network, I need to make a full use of my healing powers. Then, I want you to try and fall into one of his mind jutsu, so I can interfere with him. I may be able to kill him internally."

Naruto hesitated, unsure that allowing him more 'access' was a good idea. The Kyuubi growled. "Idiot, do it! If I do not accelerate my healing power for you we're both fucked!"

* * *

Kiba had to admit the snake's plan might actually work as he blocked a few taijutsu attacks from the Jonin slave. Needless to say, his ability to defend himself against this opponent was extremely limited as the possessed ninja managed to break his guard and surprise him with a change up from normal taijutsu to gentle fist. One touch to his stomach and the Inuzuka froze in place. Blood splurged out of his mouth and he felt a hand clench around his throat.

"Yamanaka art: Cursed sea-"He was abruptly cut off as Kiba yanked a kunai out of his back pocket and slammed it into the slave's arm.

Inoanji's voice chuckled at his futile attempt to do harm. "You actually caught me by surprise," He admitted. "But don't you think there were more effective places to target?" He taunted.

The corners of Kiba's lips lifted into a smile. "No, the artery is perfect."

"Oh?" The slave queried. "What am I going to do? Bleed out before I can brand all of you?"

Kiba snorted. "You bragged about all your mental superiority and how you're able to control all these bodies at once because your brain is so attuned… Why don't you figure it out yourself?" He mocked.

Just as he said that, his grip around Kiba began to loosen. _What did he do?_ Inoanji considered, somewhat alarmed now. _It doesn't matter, I'll curse them now!_

He started the curse mark jutsu again but Kiba resisted and broke out of his grip. The slave's movements were extremely slowed. _He drugged me?! How?_ He thought as the body fell to its knees. Inoanji pulled the kunai out of his arm and examined it closely. "Poison," The rogue spoke up, unamused.

"Snake poison," a smirking Kiba corrected, and the three-headed baby snake revealed itself slithering across his shoulder. "I probably took a play out of Anko-sensei's playbook, but you weren't expecting that one from me. I'm not so subtle."

Inoanji reached for lightning senbon and fumbled around with his hand in the pouch but that body had enough and dropped its face into the grass unconscious.

* * *

Inoanji smiled as his gentle fist attack blasted Anko in a critical location but it faded as her entire body burst into flames and his hand as with it. The fire escalated up his arm and worked its way to his head. "RELEASE!" He shouted. "ROTATION!" He immediately added, performing the Hyuga clan's heavenly spin sending her skidding across the grass before her foot could collide with his face.

Inoanji looked down at her with contempt as she quickly regained her composure. "Genjutsu," he spat. "Good luck using that on me as long as I have a Byakugan on my side I will always see through it with one of my other viewpoints," The rogue taunted.

Anko returned the glare. "At least I'm not robbing people of their talents to make up for my own lack thereof."

"You could never begin to understand-"He paused for a moment and laughed quietly. "It seems your Genin are more impressive than I gave credit for… they defeated one of my subordinates," he admitted, drawing a proud smirk from Anko.

"Too bad their Jonin instructor was less crafty," He mocked as both he and his other slave converged on the former Snake Sannin apprentice.

Deciding he wanted to end it for good, he positioned both his own body and his subordinate's side by side moving in for his own version of a Hyuga clan special. "Eight trigrams: 256 palms!" Anko's eyes widened at the number he announced and the duo both assaulted her. She threw dodging out the window and instead moved her arms as quickly as possible to intercept as many of the attacks aimed at her vitals as possible. In the process she realized it was the _Eight trigrams 128 palms_ just being performed simultaneously by two people instead of one.

As Inoanji finished, both of them drew their right hands back and blasted Anko with the final strike together. She was forced back, stumbling but regained her composure fairly quick. Her arms dangled like they were broken but in actuality they simply took way too many jyuuken hits to the point that she felt as if they were going to just fall off.

The three figures stood still, panting. "I underestimated your taijutsu," He commended, analyzing the amount of chakra points that she managed to protect. "You should still be able to perform a jutsu or two…" he mused. "But in the end, you have no chance."

He watched as her chakra built up for another jutsu. "What's the point? Attack one of me, and the other will finish this while you're exposed."

"Who said I was attacking?" Anko managed, just before widening her mouth unnaturally and making a rather disgusting noise as she shed her body into a fresh one covered in slime yet again.

Inoanji was amused. "Yes, waste what little chakra y-" He cut himself off in amazement as the Byakugan revealed to him that her new body not only was injury-free, but all of the chakra points he'd closed were reopened! It was true that her jutsu burnt a lot of chakra up, but the amount of access he'd closed off from her outweighed the amount she spent on the jutsu which meant she technically regained some of her chakra with that move.

The Yamanaka snarled. "At least I wasted some of your chakra." _But my bodies can't keep this up forever either._

* * *

Kiba was tending to Akamaru, he'd removed all the needles from him and Naruto both and he took time to patch up the wounds his four legged companion suffered in the battle. He was so on edge that he drew a shuriken when Naruto awoke and stood up with an annoyed groan. Realizing who is was, Kiba relaxed, and put his weapons away. Naruto's body was remarkably healthy looking; aside from his clothes… he appeared to not have a scratch on him.

"Where is he?" Naruto beckoned, looking around. "You…You got him?" Kiba shot him a thumbs up and Naruto barely held back a cheer.

"Good job! You gonna tell me how you did it?"

"These lil guys caught him by surprise," He answered, gesturing the baby snake.

"Seriously…" Naruto stated skeptically.

"Do not underessstimate usss!" The left head excitedly demanded.

"We covered one of Kiba's kunai with poison and directed him where to strike him," the right head elaborated in her much more feminine voice.

The middle head sighed. "So… Are we going to stay on the sidelines? Or do you want to help Mistress Anko?"

"Mistress?" Naruto repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"It is what our fathers refer to her as," The right head replied.

"They are her favorite ssssummon," The left head added.

Letting it drop, Naruto turned to Kiba. "What do you think? I…" He hesitated. "Have a plan to try out," He offered, not wanting to discuss the fact the ninetails reached out to him.

Kiba nodded. "We shouldn't leave this all up to sensei… she's great but this guy is something else! He can mix and match their powers and everything; it seems like the only limit is he has to stick to each of his cursed ninja's natural chakra affinities."

 _Chakra…affinity…?_ "That sounds way over my head; if you plan on helping Anko-sensei… I'm in too!" He assured, creating a few shadow clones. "Guard Shikamaru and Akamaru!" The original ordered.

* * *

Anko rolled away from a fire-style jutsu from the slave and narrowly redirected the rogue ninja's path away from her with a shuriken volley. _Down to two kunai, no shuriken, a few paper bombs._ She mentally noted. After evading her attack, Inoanji charged at her again, his slave coming at her from the other side. "Let's see you pull off the same resolution twice; Eight trigrams: 256 palms!" He opted to try again.

"Four palms;" Both voiced but aborted the attack as the Byakugan detected they had been fooled. The body previously thought to be Anko transformed into a log as both figures turned around and ran after the real Anko, who was being tracked by the Byakugan without effort. _She's heading out of its range… I'll have to bring the Hyuga into a distant pursuit._ The Yamanaka countered.

Anko retreated outside of the gates, drawing them into the forest. She knew as long as he possessed the visual aid of the Byakugan she would not find any useful cover, but she could definitely try to use terrain to her advantage. She leapt branch to branch, Inoanji and his slaves in full pursuit.

Inoanji rolled his eyes. "Where the hell are you going? You can't get away, you can't set up a trap that I won't detect, and won't be able to hide either! Quit delaying the inevitable!" _The Genin are following us now…_ he noted. Anko made a pair of shadow clones and the trio of snake users split up, forcing an annoyed Inoanji to grumble.

"I always know which one is you, fool!" He shouted, his group continuing pursuit of the original.

The chase lasted another three minutes before Anko turned to face her enemies. As Inoanji prepared to charge in, he left the Hyuga slightly behind, halting on a branch while he and the other slave moved in after Anko again. Inoanji watched meticulously through his Byakugan user as the two shadow clones reappeared within the branches looking to flank him. All three Anko's held a pair of kunai with strings attached them as well as a paper bomb on each. Before Inoanji could counteract, all three of them released the weapons, forcing Inoanji and his slave to halt in the middle of a triangular web of the string attached kunai.

"I suggest you don't break the strings," Anko warned. "They are the only thing my chakra is using to stop them from exploding."

 _Curse her! How do I keep allowing her to surprise me like this? I'm too smart to keep playing into her hands when I have the advantage in the first place!_ He inwardly ranted, a vein showing on his forehead. He sighed to calm himself and assessed the situation. _Ok,_ he thought. _This was all by design, she created the shadow clones and dispersed into three; I made the mistake of thinking it was a diversionary tactic to try and draw us towards the wrong one or divide us. But no, she took the Byakugan into account after all. She split into three so she could more easily assemble into a good position for an ambush… at a place she must have remembered from their trip before arriving at the gates in Konalvera. Well calculated._ He silently praised.

"If you so much budge you're going to die. Surrender now; start by releasing those ninja from your curse mark jutsu… If you try to escape I'll blow you up and that will free them from it anyway, although the ninja beside you would be sacrificed," she frowned.

Kiba and Naruto had caught up and were watching, intensely waiting to see what would happen. "Wow, Anko-sensei's got him… I don't think he can get away," Naruto whispered.

The Hyuga slave was not caught in the trap, everyone knew. But Inoanji wasn't stupid enough to send him charging in it would only tempt the Leaf Jonin to detonate her trap. Inoanji studied the strings carefully, and confirmed via the Byakugan that she was telling the truth. She was using chakra to keep the bombs from detonating, but if she wanted she could reverse the effect the accelerate the explosion instantaneously.

Inoanji smirked. "Well done, but you'll eventually run out of chakra. I will escape because you don't want my subordinate… a ninja of _your_ village to die just to kill me. I call your bluff." The three Anko's expressions changed to a far more intimidating ones, showing a daring smile.

"I assure you, if my chakra almost runs out because you're too stupid to comply to my terms… I'll blow you up to ensure the safety of my team." Inoanji's confidence began to dwindle, and he racked his brain for other ideas.

 _The Hyuga._ He remembered. _Let's try something subtle…_ Naruto and Kiba turned to the Hyuga slave as he made a handsign and muttered. "Mind transfer jutsu," while aiming at one of Anko's clones. The possessed Leaf ninja's body freefell off of its branch unconscious. "What the hell…" Naruto voiced.

Anko's clone twitched awkwardly and her facial expression changed completely. Kiba then remembered when Inoanji managed to enter Kynx's mind and what was happening began to formulate in his mind. Naruto also figured it out; he took over the shadow clone to give him a direction to run… where he could prevent the detonation. Anko knew full well what he was doing and cursed loudly as she and the other clone tried to detonate. Inoanji and his remaining slave began to retreat towards the side that he had assumed control of, but there was one thing he hadn't counted on.

Four shuriken soared through the darkness of the night and struck the strings Inoanji was in control of and his mouth widened as his supposed escape route exploded, pushing him into the other two explosions engulfing him and the unfortunate cursed leaf ninja completely, killing them both within seconds.

The shadow clone Inoanji had taken over dispelled, and Anko released the chakra containing the other one as well, sighing in relief and despair for the ninja they couldn't save.

"Naruto… That was brilliant! I can't believe I didn't realize that…" Kiba complimented.

"Yeah! We got him! Believe it!" He celebrated, and Anko realized her Genin didn't know that all of the ninja possessed with the curse mark could be freed and that with his death the mark should vanish… which meant that their stunt also killed an ally. She chose not to rain on their parade though, it had to be done no matter what… if they held anything back Inoanji would've no doubt won this battle and claimed them all. And she didn't even want to think about what he could've done with the Kyuubi at his side.

"Anko-sensei! Are you all right?" Kiba called out to her.

"I'm fine!" She shouted back. "Rally all the bodies up and get Shikamaru some help ASAP!" She commanded.

The celebrative attitude dissipated from their faces at the reminder of the shape their comrade fell in early in the battle.

 ** _A/N:_** **Whew done. I had some fun with that hope yall enjoyed. I want to point out ahead of time that Kiba's "win" against the Jonin isn't as crazy as it sounds… Inoanji never in a billion years expected the snake poison to come from Kiba, and that's the only reason it worked…**

 **Inoanji, no matter which body he used beat the tar out of all the Genin… so I don't believe I failed to make a good portrayal in their struggles against such a high level ninja just because they succeeded in beating one of the 'slaves.' Hate to defend myself off the bat but I expected some argument on that.**

 **Review please =)**


	7. A Long Day

**Chapter 7: A Long Day**

 ** _A/N:_** **I'm actually going to touch on some of the other characters today that hadn't appeared yet =) in this chapter so if your favorite character isn't apart of Re-Alignment's main cast, well this…might… have him/her! Not much else to say, enjoy**

Sakura rested against a tree watching Sasuke go through weapons practice, barely acknowledging she was even there. Ino normally competed with her for Sasuke's attention and the two of them would try to outdo one another repeatedly training hard along with Sasuke. But since Ino didn't show up for this session, she decided to just relax and watch her beloved. Occasionally she glanced around, half-expecting Ino to show but she knew it was unlikely after word got out about Anko's team killing a rogue ninja from her clan. Apparently it was a big deal, and as a member of the Yamanaka clan she would join her family to visit Shikamaru who was hospitalized the moment they made it back to the village. She didn't want to see Ino… but it would be wrong for her not to try and see the Nara just to avoid her annoying teammate.

"Hey, Sasuke how about we take a break? We should really go see how Shikamaru's doing."

"What do you mean _we?_ " Sasuke grunted, angrily. Sakura, caught by surprise at his fury jumped slightly. "You aren't doing _anything_! You're just gawking at me like some kind of idiot! You want to waste your time instead of training then just go! Leave me out of it."

 _'_ _Idiot.'_ Echoed through her head, stinging her like an entire beehive converging on her at once. She held back her temptation to tear up and walked away without another word. _Why is he so mad?_ She considered as she walked out the training area. _He's never that harsh towards Ino! I never did anything to make Sasuke mad that she didn't provoke me into doing!_ She seethed. She found herself walking in the direction of the hospital without even thinking about it and thought about what else he had said. _How is checking on a badly injured comrade 'wasting time?'_ She sighed.

"Sasuke… Why do you bottle everything up… How am I supposed to know what's bothering you?" She muttered quietly to herself as she walked.

"Good morning, Sakura," Kakashi greeted, little orange book in hand as per usual.

Snapped out of her thoughts she looked up and faked a smile. "Hello Kakashi-sensei," she greeted. _Why don't you put that stupid book away when you talk to people, its rude!_ Inner Sakura screamed at him.

"I dropped in by the training grounds; I was surprised to see you weren't there," He commented.

"I was… I just left to see how Shikamaru's feeling."

"Oh," he replied. "Sasuke didn't mention it, I asked if he wanted to come but he wasn't interested." He watched her change in facial expression though his peripheral.

 _He didn't even mention it!?_ Inner Sakura raged yet again.

 **"** Of course, I guess if you were there you probably asked him yourself so I was just bothering him," the Jonin figured.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah probably," she agreed. "He was pretty irritable today."

Kakashi decided to drop the subject as they reached the main doors to the hospital. They entered the lobby and he begrudgingly closed his book and put it away before addressing the desk clerks. "Hi, we're here to see Shikamaru Nara."

"Shikamaru Nara hasn't yet awoken, sir. You are welcome to wait for him to if you like… but it is my understanding that the room itself is off limits you'll have to wait in the hall. There are others already there devoting hours out of their day."

Kakashi was surprised at hearing he was still asleep but nodded. "Thank you, and where is this room?"

"Third floor, room three thirteen," the clerk replied. He nodded and they walked towards the stairs.

 _He's not awake… what happened to him?_ Sakura wondered. _I bet this is somehow Naruto's fault!_ Inner Sakura asserted.

When the two representatives of team seven made it to the third floor, it didn't take them long to spot a few familiar faces. Anko Mitarashi sat in a chair eating a bowl of soup, next to her was Kiba Inuzuka, stroking Akamaru's fur in his lap and slumped up against the wall sitting on the floor was the unmistakable Naruto Uzamaki, who was surprisingly doing nothing at all, despite his tendency to be the guy that can't stay still. Two others stood off to the side, it was Choji and what Sakura quickly realized was his father based on their resemblance.

"Hello Kakashi," Choza Akimichi greeted warmly.

Kakashi returned his smile. "It's been awhile, Choza. I wish it were under better circumstances."

Choza nodded. "Indeed…" He agreed sadly.

"The doctors think he's going to be okay," Choji inputted.

"He will be," Anko affirmed. "He knows what I'll do to him if he isn't; it will be a lot more painful than what he's going through now." She boasted in a mock threat though the excitement her voice normally carried was tainted. Kakashi and Choza chuckled slightly at her attempt to lighten the mood but Naruto and Kiba seemed less than certain that she was just joking.

"Hey Sakura," Choji greeted, realizing no one had acknowledged her presence.

"Hi Choji," She turned to her other classmates. "…Kiba… Naruto."

"Hey," Kiba greeted glumly. Naruto surprisingly didn't even reply.

Anko noticed it too. She was fully aware of his interest in the pink hair kunoichi, but Naruto had shown no interest in conversation through the entire duration of the wait. He had told her about the Kyuubi 'talking' to him; between that and having a teammate get put in this critical condition completely overwrote his usual demeanor. She may need to keep her eye on him, and settle him down. Still, it was immensely surprising that he showed no desire to talk to Sakura.

"Where's Shikaku?" Kakashi inquired, realizing the absence of the Nara clan leader.

"He's on a mission," Choza answered. "Inoichi is trying to keep Yoshino sane… they'll be over here again soon they went out for food.

"Yoshino?" Sakura repeated.

"Shikamaru's mother," Kakashi filled her in kindly.

"Um," Sakura began nervously. "Does that mean Ino will be here too?" Choza nodded and Kakashi gave her a reassuring glance as if to say: Don't worry; I'm sure she won't do anything to embarrass her father in a time like this to pick a fight with you.

"So," Kakashi changed the subject for her sake. "Do you guys mind telling us about your mission? I'm curious to hear how you wound up in combat against Inoanji Yamanaka during a C-Rank mission…"

Anko sat her bowl on the floor having finished the soup and slouched a bit in her chair. "Yeah, sure."

She told them the entire story, leaving out the details surrounding Naruto and ninetails of course. Throughout the story, Kiba joined in with a few words here and there, making sure she didn't forget anything. Plus Anko wasn't there while him and Naruto faced the senbon user. When they described the end of the battle when Naruto's shuriken cut the wires that got Inoanji killed Sakura looked down at him in amazement. Everything that she'd known him for was the opposite of something like that. Anko wrapped up their story by explaining that Shikamaru couldn't get the help he needed in Konalvera because his condition became so dire that he needed medical ninjutsu, which Kakashi then had to explain and define to all of the present Genin, though Naruto didn't pay it any attention. Then she finished their tale by filling in the blanks regarding the surviving ninja they freed of the curse mark and how they left a snake behind to relay the answers to them and instructions to return to the Hidden Leaf after leaving them in a hospital back in Konalvera.

"What I don't get, is why Inoanji masked his organization as a religious cult," Kakashi mused.

"We never figured that out either, but I haven't really paid it much mind," Anko replied. Her eyebrows narrowed as she added. "There are some details of what he said that I can't talk about here though."

"I understand," The former ANBU captain nodded.

The group decided to change the subject and conversed amongst themselves. Kiba began to talk more than he had in the beginning, starting to snap out of his mood. Naruto however just continued to stare at the door emotionless; he did not fidget, and did not speak a word for another fifteen minutes and Sakura noticed.

"Naruto," She prodded against her better judgment, knowing how he felt about her and how annoying he'd been in the past. Going out of her way to cheer him up was probably a bad idea, but he was acting so… un-Naruto like that it was more annoying than he ever had been before.

"Naruto!" She repeated somewhat loudly and jarred him out of his trance. He looked around confusingly.

"S-Sakura?" He stated, as if just noticing she was there.

There group fell silent to observe the Genin. Naruto looked from one person to the next; he remembered Choza and Choji being there but Inoichi, Ino and Yoshino were all absent from the room. Anko, Kiba and Akamaru of course hadn't moved, but when did Sakura and her sensei… _what was his name?_ arrive? Deciding not to look like a fool in front of his old classmates, he swallowed his pride and brushed off his sense of being lost and stood up. "I'm going to use the restroom; I'll be right back."

Anko whispered in Kiba's ear and he too stood up. "Akamaru and I are going to go for a quick walk, stretch our legs out a bit… be right back."

 _Who's he fooling!?_ Inner Sakura shouted.

* * *

"Naruto," Kiba called, approaching him just as he started to walk downstairs.

The annoyed blonde turned around to face his Inuzuka teammate and his companion. "What?" He snapped. "Following me around because sensei asked you to? Well go back and tell sensei I said she can take whatever sarcastic comment she has and shove it up her-"

"Shut up, she didn't tell me to say anything!" Kiba interrupted. "We all saw that you weren't acting right… and she just wanted me to make sure you got to wherever you're going without passing out or something."

"I already said I'm going to the bathroom!" He reiterated. "She want you to hold it for me?"

Kiba's face turned so red in anger that is burned. "I SHOULD BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU FOR SAYING THAT YOU JERK! Anko-sensei is watching out for you and this is your response? You're so damn immature; go back to the academy!"

Naruto's face hardened. "Yeah I figured you'd like that; I knew you guys wouldn't like me being assigned to your team and I've been wondering when you'd say it to my face!"

Kiba scoffed at him but relaxed a bit before chuckling. "What's so funny?" Naruto queried.

"You're right, I wasn't happy at first… But that doesn't matter."

Seeing that Naruto continued to glare he decided to just elaborate without further restraint. "You were _nothing_ , a class clown and a total loser!" Naruto's fury rose and looked like he was ready to attack his fellow squad mate.

"And I don't know what happened to you, or where you learned that Shadow Clone jutsu, but ever since then you've proven you're not incompetent. You're apart of team six… my team. Shikamaru see's you're different now too, I'm sure. If you can accept that how I felt about you in the academy days is the past and this is the now… we can move on and along with Shikamaru and Akamaru here become the greatest team the Hidden Leaf's ever seen! Anko was taught by one of the legendary Sannin… I think our goal should be to surpass their greatness!"

His expression changed to a frown as he finished his proclamation. "That can't ever happen if you don't move on and just accept that we all got to get along. Not just on missions but outside as well, if you've grown at all as a person behind those jutsu then you know I'm right," Kiba finished.

Naruto processed all of what he said and slowly nodded. "All right… fine, I'll stop acting like I'm just being tolerated and not really a part of the team. I admit… I haven't spent much time at all with you or Shikamaru since the team was formed. And you're probably right that we can't ascend to a new level if we don't try harder. If I don't try harder…"

"A team is like a pack," Kiba analogized. "We can't just 'tolerate' each other, we need to become friends." Naruto's eyes widened somewhat. _F-Friends?_ No one ever really became friends with Naruto, unless you counted Konohamaru which wasn't exactly very long ago that they met.

"A team can't reach its peak if the members of it don't treat it like a consortion. Shikamaru is pretty neutral to both of us so it all depends on you and I getting along. It's up to you to help me make that happen."

Naruto nodded. "Right, friends it is then!" He asserted, determined not to drag down the team's ceiling and though he didn't admit it to himself, he felt a twinge of excitement at the idea.

Kiba smirked. "Now… friends usually explain why they're acting so strangely that their sensei orders his teammate to follow him," he prodded. "Is it because of Shikamaru? Or the… you know," he offered hesitantly.

Naruto sighed. "Come on, let's grab something to eat and I'll tell you."

* * *

"BILLBOARD BROW!"

"INO-PIG!"

Kakashi felt like curling into a ball and dying. His two present pupils cared so little about how bad they looked doing this in a delicate time in front of not only some of their friends… but some of Kakashi's… It was so embarrassing to him that he felt like pulling kunai out and threatening to go out and hurt Sasuke to shut them up. _Wait a minute, Sasuke… that's it!_

"Oh look, it's Sasuke."

"What? Where?" Sakura stammered peering down the hall.

Ino pulled a mirror out instantly. "Oh my God does my hair look right?"

Kakashi rolled his visible eye in dismay that this was what he had to deal with regularly. Anko seemed amused by the entire scene and laughed quietly as the two Genin realized the Uchiha was not there and turned on their mentor. Inoichi watched on wondering if there was any chance Ino would get a hold of herself before this whole situation disgraced him. Choji looked to Choza who merely shook his head as if to say 'It's Kakashi's problem, don't make it your own.' Inoichi finally had enough and pulled Ino away, quietly scolding her.

Before Kakashi could reprimand Sakura she began to walk away. "I'll be right back Kakashi-sensei I need to use the restroom," she lied. Kakashi didn't believe her but nodded in acceptance.

 _I can't believe the nerve of her!_ She ranted. _Next time we do taijutsu training I'm going to leave a bruise on her face so big Sasuke won't even want to look at her!_ Inner Sakura proclaimed with fiery determination to enact vengeance.

"Hey! Sakura!" A familiar voice shook her from her thoughts, waving as two figures were walking in the opposite direction of the hall.

"Naruto," She remarked simply, seeing that he was back to normal.

"You wanted to tell me something?" He asked, remembering that she was the one who dragged him out of his trance earlier.

"Oh," She realized what he was getting at. "It's nothing. Forget about it," She offered, hoping to slip away right then.

"All right, well I was also wondering if you were free tomorrow night cause I…" He stopped as she brushed passed them not even listening to his offer.

Kiba snickered which drew Naruto's attention away from the fleeing kunoichi. "Hey, what's so funny? I thought you wanted to be friends, remember!?"

Kiba shrugged. "That doesn't mean I can't laugh at your expense every time you waste your breathe asking her out."

Naruto's grumbles fell on deaf ears as they finished walking to the others outside Shikamaru's room. "He still hasn't woke up yet?" Kiba asked, already knowing the answer.

Yoshino looked away, trying to contain the tears. "It probably won't be long…" Anko anticipated.

"How can you know?" Inoichi asked.

Anko shrugged. "Just a hunch I guess," she waved off. "Anyways, where in the hell have you two been?"

"Lunch," Naruto provided.

Anko faked being hurt. "One of my Genin is in the hospital, and the other two left me here to have lunch… without offering me to join them. They really don't give a damn do they?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly and both of them attempted to scramble up a response but were fortunately saved by the interruption of three more ninja behind them. "Hey guys!" Choji greeted, happy they showed up after all. He insisted on being there for Shikamaru immediately, he was his best friend. But his team still had to train before joining him.

Naruto and Kiba turned around inwardly grateful that they were spared from the spotlight Anko shined on them. A man clad in a Jonin uniform they'd seen around before with long brown hair and a do rag over it with a senbon needle sticking out of his mouth, playing with it between his teeth along with Choji's teammates Hinata and Shino who they were much more familiar with.

"Hi Choji… and well, everyone," Hinata quietly greeted, and stole a quick glance at Naruto without him noticing and looked at the ground.

"Hello," Shino stated, not really showing any gesture whether he meant Choji or everyone… But no one bothered to try and figure it out.

Choji's expression turned a one-eighty. "Sorry for skipping out on practice Genma-sensei…"

"Don't be ashamed, kid. We understand," replied the Jonin, visably relieving Choji with the simple understanding.

 _Why does my team have to be so screwed up when both of their teams are so well behaved… even that Naruto kid hasn't done anything exuberant or stupid, but my team? Ino and Sakura gave a live show of what they do during practice and our missions day after day. And Sasuke? He's a self absorbed fool that has no regard for anyone._ Kakashi considered silently.

"So the gang's all here…" Kiba noticed. "Aside from Sasuke that is," he corrected himself.

Naruto looked away. "Who cares…" He muttered to himself.

Shino glanced around, observing the group. "What of Sakura?" He asked blandly.

"She should be back in a minute," Kakashi supplied.

"I see," He stated emotionlessly.

 _Well he hasn't gotten any weirder at least, nor she any less shy._ Kiba thought to himself.

* * *

Shikamaru had been awake for fifteen minutes but his eyes remained locked shut. He had heard the conversing outside in the hall and wanted to know who was there before he openly let anyone see he regained consciousness. He knew he was in the hospital but not for how long or why. But most importantly, he heard Ino and Sakura yelling which meant he really didn't want to go out there right now. _Man… there's a lot of people out there now. I shouldn't worry everyone any longer, but I don't want to deal with their crap. Besides Sasuke's probably there too and he's going to annoy me almost as much as his teammates. Man, what a drag… If I wait it out, most of them will go home and come back tomorrow… but then I'd be making my team sit there like that which ain't right. Not to mention that I thought I heard Choji._ Shikamaru sighed as he opened his eyes. _Women._ He inwardly grunted.

* * *

Although Shikamaru woke up, everyone had to wait an additional twenty minutes for the doctors to go through their proceedings and eventually permit entry. The doctors insisted they would have to take turns in groups so they chose to go in squads. Inoichi, Yoshino and Choza went in first though, because no one was stupid enough to argue that Shikamaru's mother wasn't going to see him before anyone else. Anko insisted her team be last because they probably would want to take more time to talk with him than the other teams. Genma's team went first because Kakashi insisted, for the purpose of pulling his kunoichi Genin aside and explaining what he would do to them if they misbehaved when they entered.

After some scolding and threats they simply waited in the company of Anko and team six. The others conversed some, but Sakura drifted off into her own world. _Our team is so dysfunctional that Kakashi-sensei doesn't even trust us to go in a room together and talk to someone… That's pathetic!_ She reflected. Then she remembered when their team first met Kakashi…

 _She and Ino were tumbling across the floor wrestling after some harsh words were thrown around over who Sasuke was actually happy to be teamed with. Sasuke watched them neutrally as they continued to shoot at one other verbally and fight physically as well. The door opened, stopping the kunoichi in the middle of their battle and drawing Sasuke's eyes as he sat at the table with his hands folded together._

 _"_ _My first impression on this group is… You're a bunch of idiots." Kakashi told them._

"Billboard brow! Get it moving!" Ino sneered, drawing a deadly look from Kakashi. "Err I mean… Sakura, come on it's our turn," she gestured with a very fake smile.

* * *

"The doctors said I'm going to make a full recovery… but I won't be fit for missions for awhile. They told me my body has to repair some of the organs a little because their medical ninjutsu couldn't completely take care of it and I have to heal naturally. I'm going to cough blood up for awhile and am advised to take it easy and stay home. It's a drag, but there's nothing I can do about it," Shikamaru summed up to his team.

Anko nodded thoughtfully. "I expected as much, I already sent in paperwork for the Hokage to give team six an exemption from missions while you're unable to perform."

She frowned. "However, I really wanted to get this team ready and experienced in time for the Chunin exams and this is a major blow to my schedule. I can train you two," she gestured Kiba and Naruto. "But you on the other hand I have to wait on, and at first it will be mild training for you."

"Mild training is good," The Nara openly commented irritating his sensei with his laziness but Naruto and Kiba found it amusing.

Akamaru hopped off Kiba's head and onto the bed and approached Shikamaru joyfully, deciding to sniff and lick his face. "Hey! Cut that out!" The Nara complained, and Kiba lifted the puppy up.

"Funny, guess you're growing on him he usually only pays attention to me. I guess lately he's been around you guys a lot though," Kiba considered.

The doors opened and a man of striking resemblance to Shikamaru with scars on his face wearing a Jonin strolled through looking exhausted. "Shikamaru! What happened? I came the second I heard."

"Time to go guys," Anko asserted, and the two Genin nodded.

"Heal up Shikamaru! I want to go out on another mission," he announced.

Shikamaru snorted. "I am in NO rush to do that again anytime soon."

This made Naruto and Kiba as they bid the Nara's farewell and an amused smile flashed on Anko's face but she merely waved and lead them out.

"I'm going to be all right; don't worry the doctors assured me," Shikamaru told his father, seemingly ashamed and disappointed.

"That's good to hear… but why did you change your demeanor when your team walked out?" Shikaku prompted, immediately noticing that his son didn't want to talk about something with him.

"It's just…" He began.

"Yes?" Shikaku encouraged.

The Genin sighed. "When we found out it was Inoanji Yamanaka… I wanted to help do something about him to mark some form of vengeance for Shibari Nara. And I was taken out of the picture before the others even met him face to face."

Shikaku eyed him carefully for a few moments and Shikamaru eventually looked up at him awaiting a response and was surprised to see Shikaku smile slightly. "Don't beat yourself up; Inoanji Yamanaka would take me one on one easily… and I'm a clan leader. You're only a Genin Shikamaru, he's an S-rank criminal, no one in our clan would even want you to try and fight him even with a team backing you up." He walked over to his son's bedside and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"We're all just glad you're going to be okay… Don't dwell on Inoanji or Shibari. I know you're a part of the clan, but that wasn't your fight. He's in a league way above you, and I'm impressed with Anko that she was able to beat him. Whatever burden you feel, let it go son, let it go and tell me how your mother's visit went… I doubt she took this very well," he chuckled slightly worriedly.

 ** _A/N:_** **Filler I suppose yes, but lots of character development though I admit it feels a bit all over the place.**


	8. Naruto's Persistence (And luck)

**Chapter 8: Naruto's Persistence (And luck)**

 ** _A/N:_** **Over 50 follows! =) Ty all!**

 **Shoorrt chapter today I'm afraid… however, I've written a lot of chapter 10 (or 11 that is tbd) … 4k words on it already (Have yet to start chapter 9 however) that chapter I already started should be pretty long by my story's standards. Anyhow, I best not get so far ahead of myself… enjoy**

Hiruzen coughed profusely having made a mistake with his pipe upon hearing the surprising request. Kakashi gave a slight look of concern but Sarutobi waved it off. "I'm fine, do not worry. I may be old but I'm very healthy," The Hokage smiled. "Your request has caught me off guard however… Are you sure this is a good idea? Your team is very… ineffective."

Kakashi nodded. "I've tried everything, and this might be just what they need…"

Sarutobi nodded thoughtfully. "Very well, I know just what to give you then."

* * *

"But why not? You're my sensei aren't you supposed to teach me stuff like this?"

"Yes Naruto, but how can I teach you about a weapon I don't use?" Anko rebutted. "If you want this so bad, you'll have to find someone to teach you on your free time."

"Damn," Naruto grunted, but at the same time realized something else. "Oh! I know who to ask! I'll see you later Anko-sensei, Kiba!" He promised and sprinted away without another word.

Kiba snorted as the figure of Naruto grew more distant. "Who do you think he was talking about?"

"Hell should I know," She shrugged. "But since we're alone now we may as well work on your summoning jutsu. First, I want you to fill me in on you and Naruto's conversation the other day though."

Kiba openly appeared surprised. "Uh what conversation?"

"The two of you decided to have lunch together after Naruto was acting _that_ weird… without a conversation of any meaning? I find that impossible to believe. Spill it, kid."

Kiba sighed. "All right all right… He said he was distraught because when the Kyuubi talked to him, he had a plan for Naruto to follow that thanks to you he didn't have to use. That monster was so desperate to keep out of Inoanji's grasp that it was willing to work with and help Naruto out. He said that's when the whole point of it hit him. Inoanji wanted to extract the ninetails to slaughter the shinobi world… So Naruto felt a bit shook up about the fact he was the key to that."

"That makes sense, and he seems to have relaxed since then," She noted, however tallying entirely different thoughts in her head. _Inoanji would have used Naruto in just as bad of a way the Akatsuki would like to. Kid doesn't even know they exist; they want to take him… use him… and fuck the whole world over._ Anko compared. _We should tell him, but the Hokage doesn't want to. It's not right, how can we not tell someone a group of S-Class criminals want all the Jinchuriki and he needs to be as prepared and strong as possible?_ It was stupid.

"Anko-sensei?" Her attention returned to Kiba.

"I'm ready if you are."

* * *

"Where are we going Kakashi-sensei?" Ino prodded.

Before the ex-ANBU captain could answer another ninja turned the corner in front of them and ran right into Sasuke causing to two of them to consequently fall down with simultaneous grunts of discomfort. "NARUTO!" The extremely angry Ino and Sakura shouted barely keeping their fury from skinning their poor classmate alive.

Sasuke got back on his feet, intentionally kicking dirt into Naruto's face as he did so. "Loser," he spat. "Can't you do anything right?" he asked as Naruto coughed because of the dirt, unable to respond right away.

"Why don't you teach him a lesson eh Sasuke?" Ino encouraged with a smug expression.

Sakura was also about to join in on the 'fun' but Kakashi intervened. "That is quite enough, we have a mission and you three are _wasting_ my time."

Naruto got to his feet as well and straightened up. "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, it is partly my fault I guess," He admitted. "You weren't who I was looking for… but maybe you've seen Genma today?"

"Hey! You can't just run into us and ask for a favor! And why did you apologize to Kakashi? Sasuke's the one you negligibly barreled into!" Sakura reminded.

"For once billboard brow has a point," Ino sided.

"I don't have to apologize to Sasuke because I don't want to!" Naruto clarified.

"Why you-"

"INO, SAKURA. ENOUGH," Kakashi warned, shutting the both of them up instantly and even Sasuke showed a minor sense of intimidation even though it wasn't directed at him.

"Naruto, I believe Genma is working with his team in training area twenty-two."

The blonde flashed a grateful and excited smile. "Thanks Kakashi!" He stated and ran off again.

Hatake began walking again and his team a second behind. "To answer your question… We're headed to the Land of Waves; there is someone for us to meet at the gates. A bridge builder… We're on escort duty."

* * *

Genma's team was training with vigor in a free-for-all between the three. Shino tried to maintain range, knowing it was not only his strength but both his teammates were close range fighters he could not hope to compete with in taijutsu. Hinata was a problem in that regard for obvious reasons. But Choji's jutsu were also a nightmare in a close range duel. Genma analyzed closely as his pupils went at it.

"Human bowler!" Choji shouted, going after Shino as he didn't want to willingly get close to Hinata's Jyuuken. The Aburame ironically rolled out of the way, if just barely. Choji rammed into a tree and Shino sent a wave of bugs to try and captivate his teammate before he could react. However, Hinata charged at him knowing she probably wouldn't last long if it was just her versus Shino. She forced him to break off the attack and send the bugs her way instead.

Genma nodded approvingly even though none of them saw it, but then his attention was pulled away from his team as he heard another ninja approaching him. "Whoever it is, get lost."

He could hear a kid grumble in retaliation and he sensed that the Genin watching was continuing to walk towards him. "Kid, I don't like repeating myself," Genma warned without turning his eyes away from the free-for-all.

"Sorry Genma-sensei but I desperately need your help!" A voice replied that he recognized as Naruto Uzamaki.

"Desperately huh? Your pranking routine must be growing rusty," The Jonin belittled.

Naruto snarled. "Hey! I don't do that anymore! And I really do need your help; believe it!"

The Jonin rolled his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Well, they say you're the best senbon user in the village… So I've come seeking your instruction."

 _He wants to learn how to use senbon?_ While mildly interesting to Genma, he certainly didn't want a forth apprentice to deal with. Naruto's anger began to rise as he watched the back of the Jonin's head shake to deny his request silently.

"Come on! I'll do whatever you want! This is important!"

 _Anything…_ Genma thought and then scolded himself for having the thought that followed. "Kid, why does it have to be me? And don't give me any more of that crap about how I'm the best." _Even if I am._

"Well, you know we fought Inoanji Yamanaka, right?" He watched the back view of Genma nodding. "One of the guys he had control of was using chakra powered senbon needles… they were real cool. The lightning ones were undodgeable! So fast… And the wind ones hurt like hell!"

Genma finally turned to face him in surprise, revealing that he actually had a senbon sticking out of his mouth as per usual. "He used wind and lightning style senbons…?" He repeated, and Naruto nodded. Genma adjusted his bandana to get the sun out of his eyes and regarded Naruto with newfound interest.

"So you're assuming I know how to do the same? Which is why you had to learn from the best…" He trailed off.

"Yeah. Wait, does that mean you'll do it?"

Genma pondered this with careful consideration as the Uzamaki started in anticipation. _I'm the only one in the village with that particular skill set. If I turn him down he'll either never learn it or he'll have to figure it out on his own… Likely the first option. On the other hand, I don't want another student… these three consume enough of my time._ He sighed as he came to a decision. "You said you'd do anything," he reminded, hating himself for what he was about to ask.

"Yep! Whatever you want!"

"You have a deal… IF you can get me a date with Anko Mitarashi."

The blonde's eyes practically bolted out of his head. "WHAT!?" He yelled so boisterously that the free-for-all halted in confusion.

"Wh-How am I supposed to do that? And more importantly WHY would you want that! Do you know how creepy she is sometimes!"

"Accept my terms or just leave and don't come back for my help."

"Fine… The impossible it is then…" Naruto surrendered glumly.

Genma summoned a scroll and handed tossed it to him. "That will teach you the basics of wielding senbon. You have to start from the beginning before you can ever graduate to the advanced techniques you want to learn. That scroll teaches nothing you couldn't learn without me, I just don't want to spend a bunch of time with you on the easy stuff. Master everything on the scroll; I won't do you any more favors without you meeting your end of the bargain."

"What about ammo? I don't have any sen-"

"You have money, buy some."

* * *

"No."

"C'mon… I'll owe you!"

"No."

"But it's for my training!"

"No."

"Anko-sensei…"

"I'll tell ya what… convince my _boyfriend_ to let me go on a date with Genma, and I'll do it… But good luck with that."

"I didn't even know you had a boyfriend…" Naruto muttered.

Anko laughed. "What did you think I swung the other way or something?"

Naruto's face reddened a little. "Well no but… uh… forget it."

As usual Anko took strange pleasure in his discomfort and a smile crossed her lips and as they approached the doors to her home. "Come on in, you can meet him if you really want… I'm pretty sure he's here right now."

Somewhat curious, Naruto decided to accept though it was partly because his only hope of receiving senbon training from Genma laid in this man's hands. As he stepped through the doorway, his face went blue and he very quickly wanted to unsee everything he was seeing. A man with not one, not two, but _three_ naked women draped over him on the couch started at the sound of the door shutting and the girls screamed as he began to panic at the sight of an _IMMENSELY PISSED OFF_ Anko.

Before Naruto could truly register the movements Anko had already swung the door open and threw him out into the street. He got up as fast as he could and sprinted to the door in what little clothes he still had on but she slammed it in his face and turned to face the women. "BITCHES! OUT THE BACK DOOR RIGHT NOW! IF HE TRIES TO GET IN ON THAT SIDE YOU CAN TELL HIM THAT I'M GOING TO KILL HIM FOR BREAKING AND ENTERING!" The panicked bunch of cheats raced to gather their clothes before rushing out as Anko's threatening eyes danced to each one venomously.

Eventually, they all retreated out the door and Anko looked at her lone present Genin and studied the mortified look on his face. _Well… at least he's not Jiraiya… even if he's primarily just too stunned to have enjoyed the view._ "You aren't going to need counseling or anything, right? Cause I don't really want to pay for it," she joked.

"A-Aren't you mad?"

"Why should I be? You brought me a replacement right before I caught him…"

Naruto's eyes widened in realization of what she just said. "Still," She continued. "I can't believe that asshole did that in _my_ house," she turned to the couch which still had a few garments of clothing on it, left behind.

"And now I need a new couch," she grumbled.

* * *

The look of surprise on Genma's face when both Naruto _and_ Anko approached the training grounds the next day was positively priceless. His mouth actually widened and the senbon accidently dropped from the gap. The smirking Naruto just laughed at him and Anko stared waiting for him to speak.

"She actually said yes?" He stated deadpanned.

"Why didn't you just ask me?"

"I don't really know you," he shrugged. "I didn't really think Naruto had a chance of making this happen though so I figured it was a good way to get rid of him."

Anko's eyes narrowed. "So you don't even want me in other words?"

Genma blinked. "What? No… I mean yes. Ugh…" He gave up, sounding incredibly stupid.

"Gee… thanks for the reassurance," Anko sarcastically replied. "Sorry Naruto but this is ridiculous," she turned to leave.

"Maybe you'll find this reassuring… Izinaki's at seven?" He offered.

 ** _A/N:_** **Yeah short I know… but I covered all I needed to for this chapter as I knwo that if the next one were combined with this it would be too.** **… well it wouldn't flow well so they have to be separate no matter how short this one is :(**

 **Anyhow I hope some of it was amusing at least… next chapter is serious.**


	9. Suspicion

**Chapter 9: Suspicion**

 ** _A/N:_** **Yo! I figured out why last chapter was so damn short! Lol, there was a scene I was supposed to write that escaped me no matter how hard I tried to remember and I eventually convinced myself that I wrote everything… but a day after posting it popped into my head finally. No worries, it's the one scene that would have been in chapter 8 that can be fitted into chapter 9 easily =) It's also why Shikamaru wasn't in chapter 8… it was supposed to be his scene…**

 **Still, sorry for the screwup lol. Anyhow, enjoy!**

Pein and Konan eyed their holographic comrades with a mixture of interest and suspicion. Itachi and Orochimaru's figures, illuminated by the Long-Distance Communication jutsu, had kept their body language clean and their voices purely professional aside from an occasional sadistic emphasis by the Sannin. Orochimaru did most of the talking, as one would expect. To Pein's dismay he was unable to read them, and he continued to question himself for trusting them to be a part of the Akatsuki.

Sure, his entire organization was S-Class criminals, and none of them could truly be trusted… But with this tandem it was three times as bad. Itachi was recruited by Madara, the one man Pein trusted less than the two before him. On top of that, with assistance of Madara, he slaughtered their own clan. Plus, the Uchiha was even more reserved than Sasori whose comments almost always related to an assignment, an Akatsuki goal or complaints about or towards his new partner Deidara. On the other hand, Orochimaru seemed _too_ easy to recruit and showed no animosity towards his partner despite the fact Itachi was from his village and committed atrocities that Orochimaru was expected to have formed some sort of grudge over. Then again, the illegal activities that forced Orochimaru to escape the village and go into exile weren't very humane to say the least and it was possible he simply didn't care enough about human life to hold a grudge or feel any _pain_. If that was the case, it did nothing to increase his trust stock however.

"What is this Danzo's importance? Why should the Akatsuki accept your use of resources to enact your personal vengeance?"

The Snake Sannin's lips curled into a smirk. "Because Danzo wants me dead… and if he keeps looking for me he could potentially learn more about the Akatsuki, and we wouldn't want any delicate information reaching back home now would we?" He told him, leaving out what he knew of Itachi's arrangement with Danzo in regards to Sasuke Uchiha.

"If Danzo wants you dead, his subordinates are doing a pitiful job in locating you," Pein countered.

"How would you know that?" Itachi finally intervened. "Is that what _Zetsu_ told you?" He mocked, revealing what he knew.

Orochimaru gasped in false surprise. "What? You mean Zetsu was _spying_ on us? I never even noticed," He laid out dryly.

 _Shit._ Konan thought, worried things were about to turn badly if this conversation continued the course.

Before Pein could admit or deny anything Itachi continued. "You shouldn't spy on your own; it's unbecoming of a leader." Orochimaru barely held back an amused facial expression and laughter at the irony of Itachi giving Pein a lecture about spying.

"We can discuss that at another time," Pein suggested. "What makes you feel so strongly about this Danzo being a threat?"

"He's not like the other leaf fools," answered the Sannin. "He will go above and beyond to find and eliminate me, preferably both of us as I'm sure he despises Itachi as well. And he caught a sniff at the very least, we took out a squad of his ANBU the other day," He lied.

Pein frowned at that. _Zetsu failed to report that, though I suppose he isn't on watch duty with them 24/7._ "Very well, you're permitted to take care of this but not until you reach your quota on the bounties."

"Why must you waste our time with that?" Orochimaru complained. "Last I checked, that is the whole reason why you sought out Kakuzu."

"Kakuzu's expertise in the matter makes it his role; however it was never my intention to put _all_ of the bounty hunting on him. All of the teams must contribute to our funding in order to reach a sufficient amount of ryo."

Orochimaru grunted dismissively. "Very well… Danzo will have to wait. If there's nothing else, we will be taking out leave now," wishing to leave and begin considering ways to meet the bounty quota without killing people who didn't deserve it, which would make him a _real_ S-Class criminal.

Pein nodded in acknowledgement and the rogue leaf duo's holograms dissipated. "I don't trust them," he stated.

"Nor do I," Konan agreed.

"You are wise not to," A third voice chimed from behind them.

Both Pein and Konan recognized it as Madara's; he apparently was dropping the Tobi façade for the moment. "What was said about Danzo may be true however."

The body of Yahiko raised an eyebrow at the implication. "You know of this Danzo?"

"Indeed I do. And I certainly hold no objection to Orochimaru and Itachi taking care of him, particularly because we _can't_ ," He intoned with annoyance thinking of the terms they made in agreement with Itachi upon his recruitment to the Akatsuki.

Though Pein trusted Madara about as much as he would trust Deidara to follow through if he was ordered to abandon art, he conceded to the Uchiha knowing that the immortal Sharingan user's future plans depended on the Akatsuki and he was in favor in anything that benefited his personal vendetta. If Madara also preferred Danzo to be dead, then he really was an annoyance to their organization.

"I wonder though," Madara added. "It is most unexpected that Itachi, who has an undying desire to protect his village after everything he has done, would actually take a risk like bringing Orochimaru into the Hidden Leaf after what happened to him. Itachi Uchiha does not take risks…" he considered thoughfully. "Perhaps Tobi should relieve Zetsu of his duty and keep an eye on them himself," He stated half suggesting half deciding.

Konan snarled at him for his annoying use of his alias when talking about himself but Pein nodded in agreement. "You may do so as you wish; Zetsu obviously is not suited well for spying on the likes of Itachi."

* * *

Four days later, Itachi and Orochimaru silently walked through a forest with very light animal activity. It was prolific with plant life yet it surprisingly showed little signs of anything else. To their annoyance, they passed on a wordless understanding that Zetsu could easily watch them here with no effort and they had to keep their tongues tied for the time being. After more than an hour, movement behind them became audible in the leaves. Both Akatsuki gave it a thorough look but saw nothing and figured Zetsu made a slip up. But then it happened again, yet they still saw nothing. The third time, Itachi insticively drew a kunai. "It's not Zetsu, he's not an idiot."

Orochimaru nodded. "That second part is debatable, but you're right it's definitely someone else," he agreed, surveying the area. As if on cue, a toad hopped to the ground made a 'ribbit' while looking the Snake Sannin in the eyes and turned to head back the direction he came. Itachi eyed the scenario questioningly before understanding hit him. He looked at Orochimaru who nodded and the duo followed the toad, in the back of their minds wondering if Zetsu was present or not.

If Zetsu was watching, they could easily put on a show for him in a fight with Jiraiya. Orochimaru could also subtly leave behind a scroll for him to take back to the Hidden Leaf but Zetsu posed a major problem. The bounties… how could they make up an excuse to not cash in on the 'death' of a legendary Sannin? It was unfathomable. It also meant that scroll he needed to leave behind was… creatively delivered. Another thought was that Jiraiya, like Orochimaru was not told by Sarutobi-sensei the truth behind Itachi Uchiha's betrayal, truth that had been very hard to prove to the Snake Sannin but the Uchiha eventually convinced him.

Itachi's need for Orochimaru to trust and work with him was important; he actually had a real ally with him in the Akatsuki and someone to help him destroy Madara's organization. Even better, the Hidden Leaf kept in contact with his ally secretly which meant they actually could be seen to have his back whereas he previously had only himself to consider as an asset to find some miraculous way to foil the Akatsuki's goals, preferably without dying in the process. Things were different now; for the first time since _that day_ he wasn't completely alone, though he doubted he could ever fully escape his brokenness inside.

The toad picked up the pace, leading the cloaked rogues to an old stone bridge with cracks patterned throughout its foundation crossing over a beautiful river with a familiar sage sitting on the edge. Jiraiya hid his pleasure in seeing his old friend approach and masked it with the genuine disgust he had for the Uchiha. "You have good tastes, Jiraiya," the Snake Sanning complemented. "A gorgeous final resting place you've chosen, really. I couldn't have done better myself!"

Jiraiya played along, thinking the façade was for Itachi. "What? You admitted I'm better than you at something? What happened to your ego? I guess you found a way to extract it into a jar somewhere," he mocked, making a jab about his staged illegal activities. Itachi shot a glance at his partner, confused as to whether or not the Toad Sannin knew he was undercover or not but Orochimaru couldn't reply out of fear for Zetsu's unknown whereabouts.

Itachi quickly relented and reminded himself that even had Jiraiya known 'the truth' his approach would not be any different. The Toad Sannin had no knowledge that Itachi was fully aware of Orochimaru's mission and it was logical Jiraiya would do everything he could to not blow his fellow Sannin's cover to the rest of the Akatsuki. _So Jiraiya will want to stage a battle to accommodate for my presence. And Orochimaru will want to stage a battle to accommodate for Zetsu's…_ The Uchiha pieced together. _Complicating._

"So my old friend, do you intend to attack first? Or does the honor reside with me?" He asked, his fingers adjusting his long black strands of hair, removing them from distorting his right eye's vision.

Jiraiya snorted. "Honor hasn't resided with you in a long time now." Orochimaru smirked back at him. Acting, an important art to learn for infiltration missions was a lesson these two Sannin excelled at from Sarutobi's teachings, it was among one of the few areas Tsunade fell pitifully short of her teammates in. He never thought those teachings would ever be needed in such a dramatic extent as this, pretending to pit themselves against each other in disguised hatred and resentment. A pity if Zetsu was watching, as the beauty of it all was going right over his head.

"Just surrender now, I won't hold back," he warned, slamming his hand on the ground and summoning another toad as the small one dispelled. An ugly, purple toad appeared, slightly taller than the perverted Sannin and it drew a single katana from the sheath on his back. _More acting._ The rogue Sannin noted. _If he 'wasn't holding back' he would've summoned the chief. I guess this is my hint to not summon Lord Manda._

He chuckled. "You wish to play the summon game, do you." He stated more so than inquired, biting his thumb and performing a summon of his own, intentionally making an error. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Kynx's left brother, disconnected and alone.

"What isss the meaning of thisss?" The confused summon surveyed the present ninja expecting his slit eyes to find Kiba who he knew was practicing to become a competent summoner. Instead to his shock he found Orochimaru. The snake laughed. "You're losssing your touch Orochimaru, where are my brotherssss?" It mocked with his usual annoying tendency to slur the 's' syllables.

"It was on purpose I assure you; your brothers would make your task overkill. I only need you, Inyx." Inyx got a hold of himself, not completely believing him but didn't push it. He wasn't the Snake Sannin for nothing… the odds of Orochimaru making a mistake on a summon may have been priceless, but unlikely at best.

"If you think you've stalled long enough… Let's get this over with. I'd prefer to do this quick so I have enough chakra to deal with Itachi as well," He boasted.

"Do you really think that would even be possible? You're a bigger fool than your pervy reputation suggests."

Not far away, a masked shinobi peered in on the conflict, his Sharingan taking notes with hope that he could perhaps take a useful jutsu from one of the legendary Sannin.

Without further warning Jiraiya's summon charged with his katana but to Inyx's surprise Orochimaru moved to intercept rather than leave it to the snake. A small snake within his mouth became visible, its head opening and releasing the Sword of Kusanagi blade first parrying the attack. The Toad struggled with him for a moment and leapt back, Kusanagi was then fully released and the Sannin grabbed it by the hilt readily. Inyx slithered to his side.

"Am I fighting the toad or not?" He queried.

"You are," Orochimaru confirmed. "I wanted to draw Kusanagi anyways, so I was merely in a better position to move than you." Jiraiya meanwhile had entered sage mode, Fukasaku and Shima were whispering with him on his shoulders and Orochimaru was quick to recognize the senjutsu.

"Inyx… Here," He offered, handing out Kusanagi.

"Thanksss Lord Orochimaru," the snake accepted grabbing the hilt by his mouth, now able to defend himself from the swordstoad properly. Inyx was able to use a sword but only because Orochimaru engraved it into his brain. Swords were not a weapon any snake he knew could wield, it was too difficult, but Orochimaru insisted in having a snake he could summon to do sword combat… so he taught Inyx and now the snake understood why the rogue summoned him alone. It was his counter to Jiraiya's swordstoad. Inyx then shrunk his size to be a tad bit smaller than the toad, his massive size unacceptable in a war of swords.

 _Sage mode._ Itachi noted. _I wonder how Orochimaru intends to combat it._

"I see… You've been gathering energy for sage mode while awaiting our arrival. Clever," He complimented. "However, those traits you pick up during the little transformation aren't going to get you a date with Tsunade…" The Snake Sannin chuckled as Jiraiya ignored the jab at his toad-like emergences and charged at him with his enhanced speed.

The Akatsuki double agent had seen Jiraiya's sage mode before on more than one occasion and had a feeling the Toad Sannin not only wanted to make this as real as possible but also wanted to make sure he knew what to expect. As Jiraiya closed in, his enhanced vision and reflexes urged him to abort the nanosecond a flurry of snakes appeared through the rogue Sannin's sleeves. Jiraiya bounced upwards, evading Orochimaru's attempt to wrap the numerous snakes around him, however as usual Orochimaru's attack was more than it originally seemed. The snakes opened the mouths and each of them shot chakra propelled kunai with explosive tags mind you, directly at him. The perv was able to swerve to avoid all of them but he was left defenseless in midair as he barely registered the Akatsuki get behind him and slam him back into the stone bridge, creating a large crevice where he landed.

He rushed to his feet and saw Orochimaru committing to signs for an advanced jutsu, never a good thing. He launched a few shuriken with pinpoint accuracy to try and distort the signing but to no avail; the figure he struck melted into a clump of nothingness. _Rock clone, shit._

"Water style: Mouth of the serpent!" He declared, his jutsu siphoning water from the river into the appearance of a vicious snake that threw itself at the sage.

Jiraiya's enhanced speed allowed him to avoid and outrun it. The pursuing water snake was remotely being controlled by Orochimaru however, so it was persistent and stayed its course. Actually, the rogue Sannin was content with him running from it, the more sage mode energy he burned through the easier this would be. Jiraiya leapt off the bridge, the water snake following but he clasped the edge with his right hand and watched the serpent clash back into the river and he pulled himself back onto the stone structure.

Itachi eyed them with his sharingan with emotionless interest. _Well, it would appear sage mode is either overrated or Orochimaru is just that good. So far my partner has scored more points in this fight, which is a little surprising._

Gamasuya, the swordstoad exhaled in annoyance. The snake called Inyx was matching her in sword combat… a fucking snake! His style was completely unpredictable, unlike anyone she'd ever fought in her life. She swung another slash at him downward but he extended himself backward to avoid it, retracting Kusanagi into its mouth before leaning inward rapidly twirling his body around _her_ sword. Inyx laughed victoriously as his head came to her eye level and he opened his mouth to stab at her with Kusanagi but Gamasuya suddenly dispelled and returned home preferring life over death. The green coiled body collapsed to the ground without the sword for support and he recollected himself.

Jiraiya swept the rogue's legs and leapt in the air planning to come down with a punishing strike downward with his leg using the speed of his sage mode to his advantage once more. Orochimaru displayed his cunning and performed an evasive handspring to avoid that bone breaking attack. However, the perv was running after him again before he had even regained his footing. The sage plowed his fist into his technically exiled Leaf ninja's face but Orochimaru recovered quickly. He retaliated but Jiraiya met each blow easily.

 _His reflexes are too sharp for Orochimaru to penetrate his defense in a head on attack while he's in sage mode._ Itachi analyzed. _It isn't overated at all._ He recalled his earlier thoughts. _Orochimaru is that good._

The Snake Sannin ducked at the perv's swing and kneed him in the chest. The Toad Sannin staggered back but was easily able to read and block the next barrage of taijutsu strikes from the rogue. Finally, Orochimaru landed a solid blow across his head, but his eyes widened the second he made impact, knowing it wasn't right. He turned around to see Jiraiya lunging at him. "RASENGAN!" He shouted as the previous figured transformed into a log with a puncture in it from Orochimaru's fist.

Orochimaru's body skidded across the bridge and tumbled off, falling into the river, courtesy of the sage's overwhelming taijutsu boost. Jiraiya rushed to the edge, determined not to lose track of the other Sannin due to the water. It was futile however, as a mist randomly filled the area. _The_ _Hidden Mist justu._ _Smart._ The sage recognized, immediately focusing on his boosted hearing now. _Why can't I hear him? Is he staying back waiting for the sage jutsu to burn some more energy? Wait a minute… slithering…_ His ears picked up. _But is that just Inyx? Or is it really Orochimaru?_

A purple toned snake bit his foot unexpectedly and the toad sage yelped in pain flexing his leg out to try and fling the snake off the bridge and it did… transforming back into Orochimaru in midair with his hands making a sign above his mouth. "Fire style: Fireball flurry," he announced launching multiple triplets of relatively weak fireballs but at that range too difficult to avoid, catching the Toad Sannin's clothes on fire. He responded by leaping off the bridge in pursuit of the Snake Sannin as he did so, but that was a huge mistake.

"Water style: Furious current jutsu!" The rogue Sannin bellowed, creating a whirlpool where Jiraiya fell, casting him into the depths of the river.

Orochimaru swam back to the land and dispelled his Hidden Mist jutsu. A pair of green snakes slithered from out of his pant legs with secretion. It was an uncommonly known fact that all snakes can swim as long as their heads peered just above the surface of the water. On the other hand, 'water snakes' could stay completely underwater for about an hour or so; they were designated to rescue Jiraiya from an imminent drowning in case Fukusaku and Shima were unable.

Itachi nodded at him. "Good work; your feat in going toe to toe with sage mode was impressive."

"A compliment from Itachi Uchiha? I better mark my calendar. Thank you."

The Uchiha ignored his comment and turned his attention back to the water, convinced his partner did something crafty to protect his former teammate while confident Zetsu was unable to see. Assuming the plant reminiscent Akatsuki member was there in the first place. "Niccccce work, Lord Orochimaru," Inyx agreed.

Orochimaru merely nodded. "Thanks for your assistance, give me Kusanagi and you may be dismissed." Inyx complied, opening his mouth and slowly pulling the sword out. Orochimaru's mouth opened in return, another snake appearing out of his mouth opening itself to receive the transaction. Once complete, Inyx bidded farewell and vanished.

"Let's go," The Snake Sannin asserted. "I wouldn't want our ever watchful guest to see what's about to happen," he muttered so only Itachi could hear and they

* * *

Jiraiya's eyes opened to the sight of Fukusaku and Shima. "Oh thank goodness!" Shima exclaimed.

"Jiraiya-boy are you all right?"

He sat up meekly. "Yeah… I guess. Orochimaru and Itachi are..-"

"Gone," the elder toad confirmed.

"He helped us bring you to the land with a pair of water snakes but neither of them are anywhere to be seen."

The Sannin smiled at the subtleness. "I'll admit I'm a little frustrated with how well he kept up with me in sage mode… but it all works out for the best. If I won the fight and had to battle Itachi that would've done us no good… he had to win the fight, even if I lost sight of that halfway in," He grinned sheepishly.

"After the snakes helped out, they released these two scrolls from their mouths and dispelled," Shima informed.

He accepted them from her and gave them a skim. The first one had a lot of information regarding the Akatsuki, his plans and other developments. He openly gasped at a few things mentioned about Itachi but decided he couldn't comprehend that without going back and reading word for word. Towards the end he noted something about bounties, raising money for the Akatsuki and a paragraph dedicated to Danzo. He needed to get back to the Hidden Leaf and talk to sensei _immediately._ Before departing, he grabbed the second scroll, but didn't read as it began in bold letters: 'For Anko.' Respecting his former teammate and his ex-student, he refrained from reading any further.

Unbeknownst to them, an Uchiha was still lurking nearby. _It would appear Orochimaru is a spy after all. A pity._

* * *

Sarutobi stepped into Jiraiya's room and sighed in relief that he didn't look as beaten up as he feared. "Jiraiya.."

"Hey sensei," He greeted. "I'm sorry but the mission delayed me I don't have the ending of that next book ready yet so-"

"Jiraiya!" He spat, not really wanting all the nurses and doctors gossiping and spreading word to ninja and eventually the whole village that he in fact read Jiraiya's… novels…

Both men suddenly bursted up laughing however and Sarutobi looked at his student warmly. "How was your reunion with our old friend?"

He rubbed a couple bruises. "Could've been worse," his face suddenly darkened. "But I need you to get me out of here so we can discuss the scroll he left behind for me. Some of it… makes no sense to me, but you might be able to fill in the gaps of knowledge I lack surrounding… Orochimaru's partner," he explained, not wanting to voice the name Itachi Uchiha in front of the civilians. Itachi was famous amongst even civilians for some very bad reasons after all.

Hiruzen's eyes widened. _Orochimaru knows…_

"He actually left two scrolls, but the other one was specifically labeled 'For Anko,' and I assume it's more personal than business."

The third Hokage nodded acceptance. "That is fine; I will speak to her for confirmation that it was just that."

After speaking with the head of the medical staff, and Jiraiya meanwhile got dressed, Sarutobi lead his former student out. They held a light social conversation as they passed through the halls. Ino Yamanaka was walking in the opposite direction with a bouquet of flowers and flashed them a respectful smile. After she passed, Sarutobi scowled and his glare did not go unregistered to Jiraiya who momentarily lost his mind in a fantasy land that lasted about four seconds and had blood shoot out of his nose in pathetic fashion.

"You're sick," he whispered.

"But it makes me a good writer."

"That's debatable."

"Then why do you read?" He asked, and the Hokage blushed embarrassingly.

"Because… it's free."

"I don't believe that for a minute, sensei."

* * *

"Hey Shikamaru," Ino greeted, setting the flowers next to about six other bouquets.

"Hey," he returned awkwardly, eyes on yet _another_ batch of flowers brought by her.

"How you feeling now?" She inquired, resting her hands on her hips relaxed.

"Uh.. Oh I'm good. I'm supposed to get released later today," he explained with zero enthusiasm.

She rolled her eyes. "Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Well…" He thought, and appeared to be thinking hard drawing a deadpanned expression from her.

"How the hell could there be any question in whether or not you're happy to get out of a hospital!?"

Shikamaru sighed. "The only thing to be happy about is that the hospital is boring and the food isn't very good."

"THAT'S IT!?" She stated, amazed.

"They do everything short of helping me use the restroom… I don't have to work at all here, and I have a window to cloud watch," he gestured outside the glass panes. "I don't have to do any of the things I do every day that are a total drag."

"You… are the laziest human being on the planet!" Ino scolded but he shrugged it off.

"So?" And Ino facepalmed.

He waited a minute for her to regain her composure before speaking his mind. "Ino… I was wondering. Not that I don't appreciate it and all, but why have you came and visited me every day? And buying the expensive flowers… and you know stuck around to talk awhile each visit."

She just stared at him dumbly. "Isn't that normal?"

"Well yeah," Shikamaru conceded. "Except we didn't really get along at the academy and all, but now you're visiting me more than my family or team," trying to mask his slight suspicion.

She thought about it for a second. "Well don't get the wrong idea…" Her face flushed. "First off, the flowers were all free my family owns a shop. Secondly I felt like I should be here for you considering Inoanji was from my clan…" She explained with a mixture of sadness and distaste.

Shikamaru's eyebrows lifted, he hadn't expected that. "You know what my dad told me the first night?" She shook her head.

"I felt bad that I didn't really do anything during the mission and Inoanji killed a Nara back when he turned on the Hidden Leaf… He told me not to think about it, that we're just Genin and no one would've expected us to do anything anyway and that it wasn't our fight to begin with. Ino, there's no way anyone in this village expects anything from you; you don't have to feel indebted because of Inoanji's disgraceful actions. That isn't right."

She looked unsure. "But he was a Yamanaka, the lest I could do is-"

"If we allow ourselves to feel so bad about what a distant relative does to people that we're subconsciously going to be derived into kneeling down to the in self-disgrace then clan's are overrated."

She stared at him blankly, not sure what to say. "Don't you dare feel bad around me just because of that asshole." He stopped and relented, hoping that his speech wasn't going to provoke tears. Women crying and needing comfort from the only available person was a drag, he learned that from his mother.

"Still, I got to admit I enjoyed your visits," he told her with a slight but genuine smile.

"So don't take my speech wrong cause I didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't."

She sat down on the bed and grabbed his shoulder smiling. "Thanks Shikamaru," The Nara was forced into an embrace against his will and he glared at her when she released him.

"Now it's my turn to say: 'Don't take it the wrong way,'

She giggled with embarrassment. "Oh shut up. Why would I want to go out with you when I have Sasuke?"

"Didn't you hear? Sasuke asked Sakura to marry him last night."

"Wha- You ASSHOLE," she shouted and slapped him across the face as he laughed uncontrollably.

Her tempter resigned and another smile crept onto her face. "Well, I've gotta go. Maybe we should hang out while off duty sometime?"

"Yeah, we can do that," The lazy shinobi agreed. She waved him off and exited the room leaving him in solitude.

The Nara's head shifted so he could cloud watch and his mind drifted off into deep thought.

* * *

"I am never going on a date with him _ever_ again," An unsatisfied Anko decided, taking off her shoes. She glared at her own couch warily at the reminder of what happened in her home the day prior.

She proceeded into the kitchen thinking about her night. She and Genma had their date… it didn't work out well, but they did agree to do some after-dinner _activities_ anyways. They agreed it was all a onetime thing though, and she was sure Naruto would still get his training even though they weren't going to stay together. _We are so not telling him what we did though._

As she cleansed her hands, she realized there was a scroll on her island counter. Her interest peaked, she dried her hands quickly and unraveled it.

 _'_ _For Anko'_ it said in bold letters.

Her eyes widened as she recognized Orochimaru's handwriting.

 _Hello Anko my dear,_

 _I hope you and your Genin squad are doing well. Kynx sent a messenger snake to inform me of your team's encounter with Inoanji Yamanaka. Tough luck for a fresh team of Genin I suppose… But excellent work defeating him. As usual._

 _The messenger snake also mentioned that one of yours has signed the snake contract… Kiba Inuzuka I believe the name was. As you could probably guess, I advise you convince the other two to sign the snake contract as well for obvious reasons._

 _My mission is continuing to prove interesting. I highly doubt sensei and Jiraiya are going to tell you, but I've uncovered some top secret information regarding Itachi Uchiha. You may recall that he's my partner in the Akatsuki. I'm telling you this so you can tell sensei I demand that you know the truth… You're in on the rest of the secretion; there is no reason why you can't know this._

"The truth?" She thought aloud.

 _On a more bright note, as the scroll you'll likely be discussing with sensei describes in more detail, I should be visiting the village in the near future and I will definitely find an opportunity to visit you in person. I'd like to meet your team, force a jutsu or two into their skulls but I'm still designated as an S-Class criminal so it's unlikely occurance._

 _Until next time I am able to establish contact my dear,_

 _Your sensei_

 _P.S The seal below holds a gift!_

Anko laughed but felt a tear slip out of her left eye at the same time. "A gift, huh?" She released the seal and was stunned to see a pair of earrings shaped as 9's as the smoke cleared.

"H-He gave me _his_ earrings…" She scooped them up and went into the bathroom so she could see in the mirror and put them on.

"Better than anything my ex gave me," she chuckled.

 _Thanks sensei… wherever the hell you are._

 ** _A/N:_** **Boom! Wrote all that today… seriously took forever. But it was Sunday and I had nothing to do really and I had a lot of fun writing this one… prob the best chapter of the story thus far, which makes me feel better about the last one lol. Chapter 10 may be able to top it though =)**


	10. The Will of Fire

**Chapter 10: _The Will of Fire_**

 ** _A/N:_** **Mmm… it would seem I had no choice but to push my original chapter 10 to instead be chapter 11. Damn. Lol oh well can't get around what needed to be written now can I? :/**

 **Just for the hell of it, I was trying to estimate how many chapters the story will eventually have. I'm thinking 40-50 now when I used to think 30-40. But we'll see…**

 **Oh and just for the sake of being honest, I see that letter in chapter 9 didn't sound right… I definitely did a poor job making it sound like Orochimaru wrote it, though I think I keep him fairly IC during the dialogue.**

 **Enjoy**

"I expect an adequate explanation, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru waved it off dismissively. "I see Zetsu was _still_ spying on us. If he was doing his job he'd know I used a powerful water jutsu that was sure to rip Jiraiya's body to shreds. We cannot collect bounty without a body," He stated with a hint of sarcastic obviousness.

Pein's emotionless gaze shifted to the illumination of black in white. White Zetsu stuttered like an idiot, and Black Zetsu's eye subtly glanced at Tobi. **_How are we supposed to confirm that?!_** He silently demanded of the masked shinobi who made a gesture to go along with it. " **Yes…** " Zetsu finally answered the unspoken question alarming his white half in comical fashion.

Itachi, somewhat uncharacteristically, scowled. "Then why are you wasting our time, Zetsu?"

"Enough," Pein interfered. "Orochimaru, Itachi. I am sending you after the remaining Sannin. You will bring back a body, as proof of your loyalty to the Akatsuki. Since I cannot spare Zetsu… And Kakuzu has enough tasks to tend to… I will send Sasori to assist in tracking her down," He offered, aware of how elusive the legendary Tsunade could be.

 _Shit_ "That will not be necessary…" Orochimaru declined.

"I did not ask if it was. You may leave; Zetsu will contact you once we establish where Sasori will link up with you. Is that understood?" Orochimaru gave a brusque, annoyed nod and Itachi made zero acknowledgment but Pein didn't bother to press, not at all surprised by that.

"Why Sasori? Wouldn't it have been simpler to just send me?" 'Tobi' pried in bewilderment after their projections faded into darkness.

"Tobi? You consider yourself that capable of a tracker?" White Zetsu asked in surprise. " **Capable is likely a stretch,** " the black half mocked. " **competent is even a stretch in all likelihood."**

"Zetsu, you have tasks to attend," Pein reminded, wishing to get Madara alone.

" **Of course,"** "Byeee," the white half unnecessarily bid.

After their hologram vanished Pein relaxed, knowing he could sort out his thoughts now without watching his tongue. "Zetsu never ceases to prove interesting…" Madara commented absentmindedly.

Ignoring him, Pein cut to the chase. "You will still need to watch them… Sasori present or not. If they chose to turn, he cannot take them both. Especially if they had help from Tsunade Senju."

Under the mask of Tobi, Madara raised an eyebrow. "Why did you send them after the Senju anyway? My Sharingan could see all too easily that his jutsu was not nearly strong enough to 'rip Jiraiya's body to shreds' as he put it. In fact it proves that Itachi is also a traitor… Perhaps they are co-conspirators."

"Amongst our own ranks," Pein added thoughtfully.

"I saw Orochimaru's snakes pull Jiraiya out of the water to ensure he would not drown. He showed no real surprise upon learning that."

Pein made the connection he was leading on and clenched a fist at how quickly things were escalating. "They aren't just traitors; they are working directly with the Hidden Leaf village."

* * *

Anko rested in silent solitude, a grim expression plastered onto her face. She felt annoyed, betrayed, furious, and confused. Annoyed that she only knew what she knew because Orochimaru found out when he wasn't supposed to. Betrayed that the Hokage and select few others kept everything from her and the rest of the village and hell even that Sasuke brat regarding the true story of Itachi Uchiha. Furious that the village put Itachi up to such an atrocity in the first place… against not only members of their own village but HIS OWN CLANMATES. Confused that not only had Itachi not opened the suicide doors up but even now he was working to protect the village that forced him to slaughter his own.

 _Shisui Uchiha_. She read.

She was at the Uchiha Cemetery. A sector of the Uchiha district dedicated to all of their clan's deceased shinobi and civilian family members alike. Why had she come here? She did not know. Perhaps this was how she was trying to find peace with what Sarutobi begrudgingly revealed to both her and Jiraiya. She wanted to resent Orochimaru's former sensei. But she couldn't bring herself to do it after seeing the pain written on the old man's face. Itachi's doings were not his wish; it was simply a prime example of what Orochimaru taught her right before he left the village.

 _"_ _A Hokage must always put the village first. He must make extremely difficult decisions that may bring him pain but ultimately were for the best interests of the Hidden Leaf. That is what it means to be Hokage… to provide protection and guidance to the shinobi who follow him."_

 _"_ _No, this isn't for the best of the village! This is a suicide mission!" Anko argued._

 _Orochimaru did not lighten at her concern. "You have much to learn Anko my dear… I wish to become the fifth Hokage someday. And this is just the kind of thing a Hokage needs to do but can't."_

 _Anko stared back, not understanding and so he went on. "For any Hokage to protect his village and beloved… He would want to take this mission personally. But Hokage do not take missions now do they? No they stay in the village itself… to defend it and make decisions for us. However, I guarantee you any of the four would accept this mission if they believed they could stop the Akatsuki from becoming the threat I perceive it to grow into. But unlike Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, sensei, and Minato… I am not a Hokage so I can and WILL do what I must."_

 _He smiled at her. "This is why I am not the fourth and Minato was…"_

 _"_ _W-What do you mean?" She stuttered back, losing a grip on her emotions as she realized she couldn't stop him. He was going to do this. He was going to walk into Sarutobi's tower and accept that…that dreadful mission that had death written all over it._

 _"_ _It took me too long to understand what you still do not. I would've been the fourth Hokage if I hadn't been so obsessed with becoming stronger and learning all the jutsu I could."_

 _"_ _But you always said power and strength were the way a shinobi like you were to enable themselves fit to rise and protect the village!" She interrupted._

 _Orochimaru nodded. "I said that numerous times, more than I could count. But what is true strength, Anko? Is it true strength to master a long list of jutsu or is it true strength to force one's self in harm's way to ensure the safety of those he cares about?" her sensei challenged._

 _"_ _The latter…" She conceded after a moment of consideration._

 _He smirked. "Now do you see? When sensei originally retired, I lacked the Will of Fire, and so Minato was given the title. I remember being so bitter and offended…" He thought back. "But now I understand that I didn't deserve it. But then again perhaps it's better not being Hokage."_

 _"_ _It was always what you wanted…" Anko stated, unbelieving._

 _"_ _If I were the fourth, I couldn't take this mission." He paused to note that her expression practically shouted 'that's a good thing!' and he suppressed a chuckle. "Sometimes protecting the village cannot always take place in the village. At least as a normal shinobi I can handle a Hokage worthy job that my sensei ironically cannot. Besides… I'd hate to be Hokage and send someone else to do this 'suicide mission' as you put it. It would eat me up inside," He proclaimed, turning to enter the Hokage tower and leaving his former student behind._

 _Anko, try as she might could feel the tears start to slip. She was tough, yes. She acted like she cared so little about how anyone felt or their well being frequently. But as far as she could see… her sensei was accepting a mission he likely would not survive and he was dramatically embracing it. And for once, she didn't care how weak she appeared for admitting that tore her to pieces._

 _A hand rested itself on her shoulder, causing her to jolt around and see Jiraiya's serious face. "Have some faith in your sensei." She gave him a slow nod, accepting a Kleenex in defeat._

"The Will of Fire… So that's it. Itachi inherited the Will of Fire, and it was so strong that in its embrace he was able to slaughter the Uchiha clan to prevent a civil war," she muttered thoughtfully.

 _For the best interests of the village… to protect it. So Itachi was like Orochimaru? Taking huge sacrifices to do Hokage-like jobs._ If Sarutobi successfully eliminated the Uchiha clan personally a civil war would've broken out anyway, in response to their own leader's tyranny. A prodigy gone wacko and wiping them out and escaping the village on the other hand not only prevented a war against the Uchiha but any war that could've happened if Sarutobi or anyone else attempted to take an open action.

If a Hokage's job was to protect, there were still circumstances beyond his power. And the truly amazing Leaf shinobi would rise to the occasion when those circumstances came about… no matter the consequence no matter the risk. That was the price of keeping the village together, united, and void of was finally beginning to understand why Orochimaru insisted on taking this damned mission to dismantle the Akatsuki.

He was being guided by the Will of Fire, and he knew it.

* * *

"Zetsu is not present."

Orochimaru nodded. "I know."

"Then perhaps we should come up with a plan."

"Itachi? Are you admitting you don't have a plan for a change?" He commented in amusement.

"This isn't the time for your-"

"Yes, yes I know! But I haven't been able to come up with a single idea that doesn't expose us…"

Itachi's Mangekyou eyed him in their bizarre questioning fashion. It had taken awhile for Orochimaru to distinguish the different expressions behind his red and black eyes and it didn't help that Itachi usually guarded his emotions at all times. But eventually, he did catch on. "I presume your plans involve Sasori dying?"

"Something along those lines, yes," The Snake Sannin submitted.

"If Sasori dies, Pein will _know_ we're his enemies. Even if we somehow set up a scenario where he fought and lost to Tsunade Senju by himself, he will know."

 _Tsunade…_ "If there's anything going in our favor… It is that I know how to track down Tsunade easily... She was my teammate after all. Which means I can also make sure it takes us _forever_ to find her, giving us additional time to figure out how to get rid of Sasori. But that also means we'll fall way behind on our bounties, pushing back our date with the Hidden Leaf village."

The bounties were a problem in their own right, but the rogue ninja agreed to find high value targets outside the Land of Fire that they suspected were true criminals. At least that way they weren't killing innocent and honorable ninja. Pein was the thorn in that plan, demanding Tsunade Senju to prove their loyalty. Mainly Orochimaru's. On top of that, Itachi suspected Pein planned to make Tsunade into a new one of his 'paths.'

 _What the hell are we going to do?_

* * *

Shikamaru was questioning why he had agreed to have dinner with her. It wasn't a date; Ino simply wanted to hang out with him somewhere that wasn't a hospital. Which was fine, it actually sounded like fun at first… He wasn't lying to her when he told her he enjoyed her visits before he got released from that contraption of a bed. The problem was Ino felt like sharing all of the stupid things she was thinking and feeling about Sasuke, giggling happily on occasion and telling him things that to him meant _nothing_ and he quickly figured out that Ino was turning him into her replacement for Sakura because their relationship was strained. _Doesn't she realize I'm a guy? And having these sorts of conversations about Sasuke's body is pretty gay. And as much as I think women are trouble I can assure myself that I am straight._ He silently ranted.

"And anyway by the time his shirt was dry practice was over and we all split our separate ways!"

"…Glad you're so happy about it…" Shikamaru forced himself to say.

She raised an eyebrow as she took a bite of steak. "Can we just not talk about Sasuke? Especially like _that._ "

She giggled. "I'm sorry did I drag you into a touchy subject? Jealousy is a terrible thing Shikamaru."

"I'm jealous? Are you kidding me…" He stopped cold as a familiar figure approached in his peripheral. _Oh God._

"Shikamaru! Fancy running into you here, why didn't you mention you had a _date?"_

"It's not a date sensei," He protested. "And what's with your hair? It looks weirder than usual." The spike shaped banes were extremely disconcerted. Ino seemed to notice because she tried to maintain respectability and stifled her laugh. She had never conversed with Anko-sensei and wasn't going to get on her bad side anytime soon. Shikamaru also noticed she was wearing a pair of earrings shaped as 9's and he couldn't recall her ever wearing earrings before.

It was Anko's turn to raise an eyebrow. "That sounds like something Naruto would dare say to me. You feeling idiotic?"

Shikamaru sighed. "If you don't want to listen to me, ask Ino," he turned to smirk at her. This was payback for that horrid conversation she put him through.

Ino glared at him as Anko stared down the kunoichi, daring her to say something wrong. The Yamanaka beamed as an idea popped into her head that was sure to save her ass! He fumbled through things in her bag and pulled a small mirror out. "Why ask me when you can observe for yourself!" She cheerfully offered, and stuck a tongue out at Shikamaru after the Jonin took it from her grasp.

"I guess the wind messed it up while I was over at the Uchiha district," She suggested as she combed through it with her fingers. "Thanks for saying something, kid."

Shikamaru shrugged but Ino jolted up in interest. "Uchiha district? What were you doing there? Did Sasuke convince you to help with his training!? Oh my God! Why wasn't I invited-"

"INO!" Shikamaru barked irritably. _Can she NOT think about him for five minutes?_

"No," Anko dismissed. "Nothing of the sense, he didn't even know I was there. Well, they're calling my order number! Bought some takeout, gotta run see ya tomorrow kid!" She broke off quickly and left them, without a sarcastic jab about it being a _date_ to the Nara's surprise.

 _I got to watch my tongue!_ Anko scolded herself. _Sensei would not be impressed… Oh well it's not like I committed a crime by visiting the Uchiha cemetery, private land or not._ She grabbed her takeout and proceeded out of the restaurant. Seeing the Genin back there actually cheered her up mildly, she was getting the feeling that they were going to like each other but didn't know it yet.

The initial shock about Itachi had come to pass by the end of the day, and she would get back to work tomorrow. Her Genin had a lot to learn, and she smirked at the thought of how much fun it would be to push all three of them.

 ** _A/N:_** **Well that's 2 short chapters out of 3… had to get that stuff in there and jammed the Shikamaru scene in to stretch the length a little more. As implied in this chapter and the last one, ShikaXIno will come around eventually.**

 **Anyhow, hope it was enjoyable I couldn't ignore the Akatsuki considering what happened last chapter. They aren't going to just do nothing about** ** _knowing_** **Orochimaru is a traitor lol. And in the next chapter we jump ahead a little in time so I couldn't put this off for that reason as well.**

 **'** **Til next time**


	11. Red Clouds and Black Cloaks

**Chapter 11: Red Clouds and Black Cloaks**

 ** _A/N:_** **If anyone is interested in how the Land of Waves mission with Zabuza went without Naruto I went into a fair amount of detail early on in this chapter on how things unfolded without making it into an actual arc in the story… What happens there is important as far as their team's characters current development however I had no desire to dedicate an arc to a team other than team-six at this point in time.**

 **Also… they'd be getting too much screen time considering the role they play in the arc that starts this chapter… What am I talking about? You'll see =) lol**

 **IMPORTANT: Oh, and yes I posted this chapter only mere hrs after chapter 10 was up. As yall may recall I've had this one written ahead of time though not fully complete… so I took a break and then finished it after I posted 10 =) So… if you saw I updated make sure you don't unknowingly skip chapter 10 lol. And unlike 10 this one is solid length**

 **Enjoy**

Kakashi's horrible, dysfunctional team was actually getting worse. The copy ninja's idea that a C-rank that took place outside the Land of Fire would logically take time and be a real ninja mission which might help his team come together. It didn't work… at all… In their so-called C-rank mission in the Land of Waves they encountered Zabuza Momoichi, a former member of the Seven Legendary Swordsman of the Mist that had gone rogue and was working for a client that needed to kill the Leaf's client. Kakashi dueled with Zabuza valiantly, using his Sharingan in front of his Genin for the first time much to the Uchiha's stunned amazement. At one point, Kakashi was trapped in the Water Prison jutsu and he demanded his team to run. To their credit, they refused to leave their Jonin-sensei to his death. On the other hand, their awful attempt to save him was about as enjoyable for Kakashi to watch as death.

Zabuza, using the Water Clone jutsu took the three of them on without breaking a sweat. Sasuke tried to be the aggressor but none of his movements could faze the experienced criminal and was defeated easily. Zabuza had closed in for the kill but he launched fire jutsu at him, caught off-guard somewhat and not expecting such an ability from a Genin he at least escaped the corner he was backed into. Sakura accomplished nothing in the battle other than missing some kunai volleys. Ino received a bad wound from the _executioner's blade_ tormenting her through her ribcage. Zabuza backed off a bit after Sasuke intervened with a weapons volley but it was more-so because Zabuza felt like talking than he had been forced to.

Ino took advantage of the moment and used her mind transfer jutsu on the real Zabuza… releasing Kakashi and also ending the battle. Kakashi considered the whole fiasco a stroke of luck that Zabuza didn't recognize her as a Yamanaka clan member. Zabuza was taken alive, but was released when the Village Hidden in the Mist's ANBU-equivalent approached them. Ino was confined to a bed for a awhile and Sasuke and Sakura were left alone with sensei and the bridge builder much to her annoyance. However, the day Zabuza and Haku, the disguised Mist representative, returned to put an end the bridge's construction… She decided to go and meet up with the others. She'd been tired of staying in that house with nothing to do, and she didn't want Sakura making moves on _her_ prize.

When she finally arrived, she nearly freaked out. There was a _huge_ mist hiding the figures of her allies and her enemies and she settled for entering a circle of… ice rectangles? Inside, she found Sasuke fighting for his life, struggling against senbon needles being thrown at him with expert accuracy. She rushed in to help him and he gave a very brief and vague explanation of what he was trying to do to Haku with his fireball jutsu. Ino did as he asked and tried to cover him as much as possible intercepting senbon but she was also quickly overwhelmed. Sasuke lost consciousness eventually collapsing from the vicious barrages. Ino would not accept her beloved dying right in front of her like that. She guarded him, protected him, far longer than she should have been able to, suffering senbon after senbon while deflecting what she could. Their deaths were imminent, up until the point Haku realized his master was in grave danger and abandoned Ino to save Zabuza's life.

Ino and Sasuke would live to fight another day. Sakura wasn't really involved in the fight at any point, staying close to the bridge builder no matter how thick the mist grew determined to guard the client though very afraid of the idea of the battle coming down to her and Zabuza. In the end, Zabuza was too injured to possibly beat the chakra-drained Kakashi.

Though his team still had some serious problems, Kakashi had to admit… given what they faced his team did far better than he would've expected. However, the desire to praise his team after the mission was dead by the time they returned from the village.

Ino was jealous that Sakura got that extra time with Sasuke, Sakura was frustrated because Sasuke wasn't acknowledging that she did anything whereas he actually complimented Ino's performance and Sasuke seemed angry that he nearly died because he was too weak and had to rely on Ino to save them twice during the mission but he didn't try to deny that she proved him wrong. She was useful; Sakura was not. Not in his eyes at least… and Sakura seemed to read his thoughts picking up on it easily and it infuriated her, heating the kunoichi rivalry up another notch.

In other words, not only did Kakashi's C-rank become an A or S-rank just like Anko's mission… but his was even more dangerous… and rather than benefit the team chemistry it actually found a way to get WORSE! The single Sharingan user was quite annoyed about the dilemma.

* * *

A few months had passed since the mission against Inoanji Yamanaka. Naruto had become a competent senbon user and was debating whether or not he was ready to start bringing them on missions. Shikamaru's conditions came to pass and he made a full recovery. As soon as he was able, Anko pushed him to learn better taijutsu. He didn't like it, complained a lot, and thought it was a drag but his sensei would not relent. Kiba could successfully summon Kynx and his brothers but was still not as consistent as he (or Anko) would like.

Speaking of Anko, she began to train the other two members of team six in snake summoning but it wasn't the special training Kiba received. All three signed the snake contract at this point, but only Kiba had a real chance of using it in battle as of yet; Naruto and Shikamaru's introduction was also mostly new information for Kiba because Anko had the intention in mind to teach them the mainstream techniques such as Striking Shadow Snakes. Summoning Kynx and his brothers wasn't something they could do every time they entered battle, it was more important that the trio of Genin learned how to perform snake jutsu that they could implement into a one on one fight.

All together, the team had grown stronger individually but also as a group. Anko could see the Genin saw each other _friends_ as opposed to… co-workers? At this point. Over the course of three months or so they compiled a large string of D-rank missions already taking on nearly sixty of them which would indicate Anko was _NOT_ giving them very much time off yet in their young ninja careers. In addition to the gardening, shopping, animal snatching and other God awful D-ranks; they did two other C-rank missions. Needless to say both went a hell of a lot easier than the mission in Konalvera and no one sustained notable injuries. Naru-Shika-zuka began to show signs of formidability as well, Shikamaru worked out a few routines and engraved them into their memory, taking full advantage of having the lazy Nara on their team.

Shikamaru grumbled on about how much he hated Anko's taijusu training sessions as he accepted a hand up from Kiba. "That's another win for Kiba…" She commented absentmindedly marking a win on a notepad. She had her Genin spar in straight up one versus one no ninjutsu taijutsu training regularly, but also kept it interesting by having occasional sessions where ninjutsu and genjutsu were allowed.

In pure taijutsu spars, Kiba was undefeated. When allowed to use ninjutsu (and Kiba is allowed to have Akamaru's help) he still had the most wins. Sometimes Shikamaru's shadow possession would trap him and that would mark a rare win for the Nara and sometimes Naruto's craftiness with the shadow clones would overwhelm him but so far he was the king of individual one on one sparring.

Shikamaru had a hell of a time against Naruto because when ninjutsu was allowed the clones made it impossible for him to get the right target. And in pure taijutsu against Naruto? That was a non-contest. Which is why Anko continually pressed the lazy genius to expand his skill set. He always complained and insisted he didn't need to be good at taijutsu his role was to be the tactician and to use the shadow jutsus, but Anko would hear none of it.

Kiba had the best taijutsu on the team by far, and when you take shadow possession away from his lazy teammate, and then shadow clones away from the other, he had no real challenge to face. On the other hand, when ninjutsu was allowed he did struggle a bit to win a fight without getting snared by Shikamaru. In Naruto's case, it was all about not allowing the clones to inflict much damage and retaliate with heavy attacks knowing in a stamina war Naruto will always win.

"Let's go, we're doing a mission today." All of the Genin groaned at that announcement drawing a smirk. "Chill out! The Hokage might offer up a C-rank, you ain't allowed to whine until we have a file in hand."

"Sensei," Shikamaru started pointedly. "No one is whining. Secondly, you complain about the D-rank missions more than we do." Naruto snickered and Kiba just shook his head with an amused smile.

The group walked off the training grounds and began their short journey to the Hokage's tower as Anko retorted his comment. "Yeah I've been bitchy lately, so what? I'm a Jonin… doing D-ranks is at least eighty times more annoying for me than all of you put together."

Kiba snorted. "You don't even do anything during our D-ranks."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "Hell yesterday you were complaining that about how you forgot your sun tan lotion as you kicked back in that lounging chair you always bring in that scroll of yours."

Anko laughed. "All right all right I get the point, but don't act like you really think a Jonin should be sitting their picking weeds with you!"

"We don't even think we should be picking weeds…" Shikamaru countered.

"Yeah, teamwork building my ass," Kiba chimed.

"Looks like I'm starting to rub off on you guys," Anko smiled, and it wasn't just a smile… It was one of those creepy smiles the Genin were still only mildly used to.

The team entered the Hokage's tower and worked their way up to request a mission and as they entered could see Kakashi and his team were already there. His team turned and greeted them but Anko wasn't paying attention. There were two other teams also present, all annoyed watching ANBU speak with the Hokage about something quietly.

"What's going on?" She asked Kakashi.

He shrugged. "No clue," he replied returning his attention that that stupid book.

"Well how long have ya been here?"

" _Forever_ ," Sakura grunted.

"Man I hate waiting…" Shikamaru muttered. He advanced a little just to get a better view out the window and started cloud-watching since he had the opportunity. Ino glanced his way but didn't really feel like talking so turned back to the Hokage, hoping they'd hurry up. Kiba took the chance to just pay some attention to Akamaru and pet him all around stroking his fur vigorously, making the dog happy. Sasuke was probably the most annoyed, agitated person in the room. They were wasting his training time after all, if they wouldn't give them a mission there was no reason for him to be sitting around like this.

"Anko, Kakashi," Sarutobi gestured them and their teams forth, annoying the other two present and seemingly ignored teams further. The ANBU he had spent so much time speaking with vanished from the room in small explosions of smoke and the Genin teams listened intently.

"I have just received information that requires your teams taking on a collaborative mission."

Anko and Kakashi both raised eyebrows at that and not surprisingly Anko responded first. "What? That sounds like a B-rank or higher and you haven't even told me anything yet!" That excited her team immediately. Well, Naruto and Kiba that is…

"Did she just say B-rank!" Naruto whispered excitedly.

"I guess we really shouldn't have been bickering when she said we had a mission earlier!" Kiba chuckled, also happy about what had been said.

Shikamaru kept his comments to himself, but they were nothing short of negative. _B-rank already? … And I have to work with Sasuke and deal with Sakura and Ino's crap that has to deal with Sasuke? What a drag, just give us like four D-ranks instead!_

Sasuke scowled openly. _Naruto the lowest of the low, Shikamaru the laziest excuse for a ninja in all the Hidden Leaf and that loudmouth idiot Kiba Inuzuka?_

 _Well at least they're all boys… no one to try and flirt with Sasuke…_ Ino thought with a smile, which quickly faded away. _Except billboard brow._

"The information the ANBU have brought to me is not relative to your mission do not worry. This is a border line high C-rank to low B-rank mission; your teams will track down and relieve team nine lead by Gai Maito. I need him back at the village ASAP and your teams will pick up on his team's current mission. Team nine is from last year's graduating class which means they are far more experienced… I want two teams to replace them to try and compensate for the experience difference. In addition there will be two Jonin this way to help manage that."

Anko and Kakashi settled down in understanding. "Very well, and what is team nine's mission?"

Hiruzen handed him a file. "The client pays us to act as body guards as his name was enlisted in the bingo book. He is a former Leaf ninja but fears he will eventually be overwhelmed by rogue ninja looking to make a living. All your teams have to do is track down team nine who hasn't arrived at the destination yet and if you push it you might be able to catch up within a few hours," Kakashi's attention dissipated to enjoy a sarcastic thought. _Unless Gai gave his team the typical power of youth crap and ran them to death to reach the destination in an inhumanly possible time you mean._

"Then proceed to the destination and inform the Chunin team they may return. I will send a new Chunin team to replace all of you in a few days."

 _Uggh… Naruto's gonna hit on me for three days… somebody help me!_ Sakura whined inwardly. _Why are we taking a mission that usually goes to Chunin anway!?_ Inner Sakura ranted.

"All other information is in the file, I'd prefer you depart immediately," The Hokage dismissed.

* * *

The teams gathered at the gates twenty minutes later, even Kakashi was on time, which Sakura and Ino both failed to resist remarking on sarcastically. "The Hokage said it would take three hours or so to catch them," Kakashi began.

"They were there you know…" Anko pointed out sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"Yes, except the Hokage is wrong."

"What do you mean?" She demanded.

"You've met Gai Maito right…?" He urged and her face fell in understanding.

"Crap, you have a point let's go!" She took off without further warning, team six right behind her having not been all that surprised at her abrupt departure.

"Anko-sensei? What did he mean by that? _You've met Gai Maito, right?"_ Naruto repeated.

"You'll understand when we catch up to them."

She glanced through her periphial and noticed he raised an interrogating eyebrow at her. "Trust me… you'll understand the second he starts talking," She assured. Naruto wasn't really satisfied by her answers but dropped it since it wasn't that important. In the meantime, Kakashi and his team caught up to them and he gave Anko an irritated look but she just smiled, an amusing thought crossing her mind. Kakashi's team had some serious functionality problems, so she figured in a rude messed up way this was a great time to show off.

"Shikamaru, re-organize the formation."

The Nara sighed and began looking over the team pondering each one's specialties and abilities known to him. "One second…"

"Re-organize the formation?" Ino questioned.

"Wherever Shikamaru wants you, you go. Do not question it; he knows what he's doing."

"All right, we're going to make a diamond formation. Kiba, you take point." Kiba nodded having expected this because of his and Akamaru's special scent detecting and tracking skills.

"Anko and Kakashi senseis… I want you two taking the outside positions on the left and right." Kakashi looked at Anko checking if she was really serious about this or not but she ignored him and took the place he assigned to her on the left so Hatake complied as well.

Shikamaru looked at Sasuke and Naruto next, clearly comparing his options before settling on Sasuke. "You take the rear," he ordered. "Everyone else just stays within the diamond and stays alert."

"Shikamaru," Naruto whispered, coming up to his side. "I saw that you know. What made you pick Sasuke over me?" he demanded irritably.

The lazy tactician sighed again. "Both of you fit the job; I just didn't want to deal with Sasuke and both of his fangirls next to me for the entire trip. It would be _annoying."_

Naruto snickered acceptingly. "Oh I gotcha…"

"Why are we even taking a formation? We aren't expecting to encounter hostiles before finding team nine are we?" Sakura asked.

"No," Kakashi replied irritated. "Anko is trying to embarrass us with how talented her team is."

"What?" Ino snapped, insulted.

"What makes her think their squad is better than ours?" Sakura joined.

Anko just laughed the glares off uncaringly. "Ask yourself this kid; why did your Jonin-sensei jump to such a conclusion without me implying a damn thing?"

Her point was met with silence. "I rest my case…"

Kakashi sighed as he realized she set him up for that one and that the kunoichi pair would likely be upset with him over the next three days they were spending away from the village.

"You guys can break formation if you want," She offered. "It isn't necessary at all… but Kiba I still want you to take point with that nose of yours." The Inuzuka nodded in acknowledgment.

* * *

Gai Maito and Rock Lee lead the way bursting with enviable energy as Tenten and Neji followed just behind them leaping from tree to tree. Tenten and Neji were panting slightly in need of a break. They had gone approximately three quarters of the way without a single break all because the two taijutsu specialists were legally _insane_. There were times that Neji felt like lashing out at the green spandex clad ninja and _taking_ that ridiculous energy away and this was certainly one but he knew he was out of luck. For one, he could never hope to match up to Gai-sensei; he was a mere Genin. Secondly, his bushy-browed teammate would make it two on one so he didn't really have any option but to suffer.

"Tenten, why do you already show signs of tiring? Did you not sleep well last night?" Lee queried.

"I slept fine! We've been running forever can't we take a break!"

Lee shook his head. "We would not need a break if you were not tired. What is the source of your exhaustion?"

Neji snorted. "Perhaps we're not as attuned to the _power of youth_ as you," he sarcastically suggested, sparing his teammate from being screamed at by an annoyed Tenten.

As Lee was about to retort, Neji realized they were no longer alone, having detected two ninja advancing in the opposite direction, one carrying a body over his shoulder. "Stop!" He shouted. "We have company, two ninja up ahead coming right towards our position just within my range."

"Good work, Neji," Gai praised.

"What is their identity?" Lee questioned. "Are they the team we are replacing?"

Neji shook his head. "I do not know who they are, but I severely doubt a Leaf Chunin squad would be wearing their choice of attire and haul a corpse over their shoulder," he described with a sneer.

"So what are we going to do? Hide or confront them?" Tenten asked their sensei.

Gai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "We have to confront them Tenten… It's the only way I can think of to ensure that corpse isn't our client. Don't engage unless provoked or I give the signal!" He reminded and the team nodded in acknowledgement. Within seconds the mysterious pair arrived and halted, analyzing the Leaf squad they had encountered. In return Neji's gaze was unfaultered, analyzing every last detail with his Byakugan.

The first man had strange sickly green irises with a mask covering much of his face not unlike Kakashi Hatake. His outfit was skin tight under his cloak, going over every last inch of his head and neck. A Hidden Waterfall headband was visible with a line across the symbol signifying he was a rogue. To his side, was a very strange man… even stranger than his companion even. He looked more like a shark than a man, having the appropriate skin color and texture to enhance the vibe. He had what looked like a pattern of gills under his fish-like lifeless appearing eyes. The smirk on his face made him all the more creepy as Neji took notice of his Hidden Mist headband, which as one could expect had a line through it like his ally. Both warriors sported conspicuous black cloaks patterned with red clouds across them.

It was the shark-man who broke the intense silence. "Look at these _freaks,"_ he gestured Gai and Lee. "Looks like we wasted our time coming after these guys, Kakuzu."

Kakuzu shook his head. "No. I recognize that Jonin from my bingo book… do not underestimate him."

The shark eyed him questioningly. "Really? _Him?_ I find that hard to believe but how much is he worth?"

"Enough to make this worth our time," he answered, sounding pleased about something.

"All right then, ready to die, freak shows?"

"It is you who is the freak show!" Lee shouted.

"Bah hahaha, Ah yes I suppose that's a valid argument kid. But I have an excuse for looking like this that you couldn't even begin to comprehend." His gaze danced between Gai and lee back and forth.

"On the other hand… _No one_ has an excuse to run around with those haircuts, those outfits… and sure as hell not your eyebrows boy."

"Kisame, shut up about their looks," Kakuzu ordered, dropping the body that was slumped over his shoulder. "It doesn't matter what they look like, they are going to be dead. So you're just wasting my time, and time-"

"Time is money, blah blah blah. I've heard that enough times," Kisame retorted.

"Kisame… I'm going to kill you!"

Kisame grunted irritably. "Do we really need to have this conversation again?"

"For partners… or whatever. They don't get along very well," Tenten commented.

"No they do not," Lee agreed.

Neji however snorted. "You don't say?"

Gai ignored the squabbling on both sides and focused on Kisame. "What did you mean by 'coming after us,' how could you even know we were coming?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kisame stated, pointing at the body by Kakuzu's feet. "That right there would be your client… It was merely luck that those Leaf guys we killed while we were there mentioned something about trying to stall us long enough for reinforcements. It occurred to us that we stumbled into them the same day they were going to be relieved. So we decided to come looking for you; good thing we did, we need the money that your head is worth."

"What money is he speaking of?" Lee voiced confused.

"Famous ninja often find themselves in the 'bingo book,' which is essentially a list of people with a bounty on them." Neji offered.

"So… we're fighting bounty hunters then?" Lee concluded. "How exciting! We shall show them the power of youth!" Neji and Tenten stared at him deadpanned.

Kisame snorted. "The weirdo's got spunk; I'll give him that."

"Glad you like him. You get to kill him along with the other two while I take care of Gai."

Kisame chuckled. "So you want the target twice in a row, eh? I could argue… but I don't mind this time, this bunch look like they could be at least a little interesting," He submitted, his gaze floating over his newly assigned prey.

"Your agreement is not of importance to me," Kakuzu reprimanded, drawing yet another annoyed gesture from his partner, who apparently needed a lot of patience to handle being around this guy all the time.

* * *

"Anko-sensei," Kiba called out. "Their scents are getting stronger I think we're finally getting close!"

"Good. You heard him, pick up the pace maggots!" Anko shouted among the group.

"If we're getting close… can't we rest for like ten minutes? We haven't stopped once!" Ino complained.

"We can't," Kakashi stated with a touch of honest sympathy. "This is Gai's team… therefore to fulfill our first objective, which is to send Gai and his team back to the village… we cannot stop. I'd rather not try and explain why."

"But this is insane!" She snapped.

"No, Gai Maito is insane," Anko corrected.

"You're one to talk," Kakashi shot back but Anko smirked.

"I'm not insane, I'm twisted! There's a difference."

"They've stopped moving senseis!" Kiba announced.

Kakashi and Anko exchanged a look. "Are you sure?" Hatake probed.

"I'm an Inuzuka!" He retorted arrogantly.

"Shit. How many scents are you detecting?"

"One sec Anko-sensei…" He mouthed to himself quietly making sure he didn't make a mistake. "Six living scents and possibly a seventh but whoever it is has a major injury… or is dead."

"Six? But we're replacing a regular Genin squad and their sensei shouldn't there be only four?" Sakura prompted.

Sasuke scowled at her. "That's the point. Why did you think they asked him how many he could smell in the first place? He asked her with contempt. Sakura glared at him. As usual he disregarded her as useless and stupid. She was beginning to grow weary of it; she actually was starting to like him much less than before.

In contrast… _Score!_ Ino thought happily.

Kakashi merely sighed as he was so used to all this behavior that not much needed to be said for him to know exactly what all of them were thinking and felt.

"Let's pick up the pace Kakashi; they may need us!" Anko half suggested half ordered. When she began to move faster and passed by Kiba it became apparent it wasn't suggestful at all. Her Genin were right on her tail and Kakashi in tow, his squad reacting a little slower.

* * *

Kakuzu had to admit, Gai's taijutsu was extraordinary. The self proclaimed 'Green Beast of the Leaf' was impossibly quick considering how hard the blows were pounding at the Akatsuki member. Kakuzu was thankful in that moment to have the Earth Spear technique, giving him a way to repel the damage he should have been taking. Gai spun around for a roundhouse and broke Kakuzu's guard before delivering a devastating elbow to the rogue ninja's face. However, as opposed to being launched across the weeds… Kakuzu only slid back a few feet before launching himself at Gai who had not even regained his footing.

The bounty hunter smashed his fist into Gai's gut, using the Earth Spear technique for offense this time. Blood shot out of Gai's mouth and his eyes widened. Not only was he caught by surprise by what little damage his attacks were inflicting and then somewhat off-guard during the counterattack but that was a far more painful punch than he could ever expected to come from the cloaked renegade. Kakuzu batted him away, sending _him_ skidding across the terrain.

Gai wasted no time returning to his feet, energetic as always but eyed his opponent with a new sense of danger and wiped the blood off his lips. "My attacks do not affect you."

He could almost tell the bounty hunter was smirking under his mask as he replied. "I utilize a jutsu that is perfect for taijutsu specialists like you. It was Kisame's turn to combat our target, but since it was you I felt it would save a lot of time to just kill you myself."

 _A jutsu, I figured as much but I bet he hasn't fought any taijutsu master that can outlast my stamina! If he runs out of chakra while using this technique I'll defeat him easily! Until then I'll just have to try and penetrate his defenses._ "We'll just see how much chakra you can handle draining to use the jutsu while fighting me at the same time then!" Gai confidently declared, with one of those creepy smiles where his teeth shined and sprinted at the former Waterfall ninja.

"Earth Style: Stone Binding jutsu." Before Gai could reach his target, the ground in front of Kakuzu creviced in multiple places and without warning a barrage of rings created entirely of solid rock closed in on the Leaf Jonin. Each ring had a gap in it, and Gai quickly understood the purpose of the jutsu as he allowed one to reach his leg, the gap locked shut, restraining the body part. Now understanding, he quickly kicked and chopped at the other rings before they could restrain anything else. He caught the final one, which was larger and aimed at his chest. He slung it back at its owner like a frisbee but his enemy dispelled the jutsu, causing the ring to crumple and fall to the ground. The ring around his leg also crumpled and peeled off.

"Did you really think I would abandon my jutsu and fight someone like yourself solely with taijutsu? Even with my ability that would be foolish," He mocked.

 _He's toying with me._ Gai knew. _But I can't let this drag out, or else I'll let my team down. That shark-like ninja could be every bit as dangerous as Kakuzu._

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Lee's unmistakable yell was heard as his kick launched Kisame into the air. Lee leapt up as well and Gai recognized what he was planning to as he began undoing the bandages along his arm. Gai almost realized too late that Kakuzu had closed the distance during the distraction. "You'd be wise to focus on me you fool!" He sidestepped a kunai strike and kicked Kakuzu back in his side then lunged at him planning to follow up on it. However, the bounty hunter reactivated the Earth Spear technique, effortlessly deflected the first strike and knee'd the Leaf's Green Beast so hard that after evading a couple attacks was forced to withdraw from his own assault.

"A…puddle!?" Lee exclaimed.

"You used your finishing move on a water clone," explained the Hyuga. "TENTEN, over there!" He shouted pointing at a different puddle. "He's concealing himself in it!"

The female member of team nine nodded, unleashing two scrolls into the air, sending a rapid-fire volley of senbon into and surrounding the puddle. Kisame's figure could be seen making its exit before his annihilation could take place. The ex-Mist ninja merely chuckled at their efforts. "Hidden in water jutsu… great way to ambush people, unless they have the Byakugan I suppose," He stated, smirking at Neji with his bizarre eyes staring into Neji's kekkei genkai.

 _This is absurd! There isn't even any water here in the first place as far as I can tell how so how is he performing water jutsu?_ The prodigy ranted inwardly, though kept his exterior calm as ever. _It doesn't matter._ Neji reminded himself. _If I can just get close enough… I'll make it where he can't do any jutsu at all._

Neji was disrupted from his thoughts as Tenten's katana dropped from her hand and she dropped to her knees appearing exhausted. "Tenten!" Lee panicked.

Kisame laughed at them with a touch of pity. "It's her own fault really, trying to fight me with a sword… Samehada here absorbs chakra." Neji grit his teeth, this was getting way out of hand. Suddenly, he noticed a group of eight fast approaching their exact position. _But how? How could they know…_

Gai's limbs were apprehended this time when he got too close to his target. Black tendrils lashed out and held him in place for the amused Kakuzu to watch the Jonin squirm for his life. "Do you like it? It's called Jiongu," the Akatsuki mocked as Gai continued to struggle.

* * *

Team nine's unexpected reinforcements had just arrived but they stuck to the bushes for a moment, observing the situation. Anko visibly recoiled at the sight of two ninja wearing the familiar cloaks. "A-kat-suki…" She whispered so low no one could hear.

"What the hell… who are these guys?" Kiba whispered.

"I don't know, but it looks like we got here just in time," Kakashi asserted. He was about to make a move to free Gai but Anko grabbed him by the arm. He turned to her questioningly. Her gaze was as serious as he'd ever seen it. "Sharingan… you're going to need it."

 ** _A/N:_** **This arc prob has a good 3 chapters to go in it =) Then some in-between chapters that would be filler/character development plus Orochimaru/Itachi for a chapter or 2 before the Chunin exams arc! So yes lots of good stuff coming.**


	12. Sub-Immortal

**Chapter 12: Sub-Immortal**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hello all, I'd like to inform you chapter 11 had more views than chapter 10… meaning several of you didn't realize I posted two chapters that day and because 11 had a bit of a timeskip you didn't notice. So please make sure you didn't cheat yourself out of a chapter lol**

 **Also, I'd like to recommend 'One eye, Full of Wisdom' the author, MrBright01 wanted to do so for my story and I went to read his since he was doing me the favor and I must say it was worth my time, very good Kakashi story =) 27 chapters on it so far, unless he beats me to updating lol.**

 **Anyhow, on with the story. Enjoy**

The tendrils of Jiongu had Gai completely apprehended and the Jonin swore the more he struggled the worse it got.

"You all know what to do?" Another Jonin asked from behind the bushes eyeing the clearing carefully. Both team's Genin nodded, some more confident than others.

Eyeing them with reluctant satisfaction, "Then let's move… _now,"_ Kakashi gave the order.

The teams dispersed in an instant. Team seven rushed to provide aid to team nine's Genin while team six made a move to set Gai free. Neji leapt into the bushes the second he saw them coming. Kisame raised an eyebrow at the move as he blocked another swing by Lee and took notice of the reinforcements. Sakura grabbed the still recovering Tenten and turned around to get her in a safe distance. Ino came to an abrupt stop, her job was to get the Hyuga guy but he ran off just as they made their move…

Lee allowed the sudden interference to distract him and Kisame was able to sweep his legs before jumping back to avoid a barrage of shuriken from Kakashi and Sasuke. Lee recovered from his shock but Sasuke got in his way. "Stay put," The Uchiha ordered. "Kakashi-sensei will take it from here." Lee reluctantly backed down, assuming Sasuke was merely doing what his sensei asked him to do.

Kakashi meanwhile pressed on his assault. "RASENGAN!" he bellowed, but the ex-Mist shinobi narrowly slipped out of the radius of his attack, causing the Hatake's jutsu to rather rapidly grind through a tree.

Kisame chuckled amusingly. "Interesting…" The Akatsuki member almost failed to notice the surprise attack from behind him as he _barely_ swerved his body left to avoid the gentle fist strike before grabbing Neji Hyuga by the wrist.

"Not bad kid," He complimented before smashing him in the knees and tossing him aside. "I should've expected you were up to something; you hadn't struck me as a coward."

"NEJI!" Lee shouted with concern.

"I'm fine!" The furious and injured Genin snapped as he struggled to his feet, clamping a hand on one of his kneecaps.

Kisame made a sign Kakashi was sure he'd seen on a recent mission. "Ninja art: Hidden Mist jutsu."

"BYAKUGAN!" Neji forced himself on instinct and pointed where the Akatsuki went. "That way! I think he's trying to regroup."

Meanwhile…

"MULTI-SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto announcing, signing as he jumped as high as he could.

"What?!" Kakuzu swerved his head to see a new face multiply into more than a dozen, each one reaching for kunai and senbon. They- or he was another mere brat with short blonde hair wearing an orange jumpsuit and had strange, noticeable whisker marks on his cheeks. _Where did he come from?_

Furious, the ex-Waterfall ninja discarded Gai and ran to avoid the deadly rain of projectiles. He nearly escaped the radius of which the Naruto's covered but had to settle for deflecting several with Jiongu and even taking a few hits while activating the Earth Spear technique. _Idiot. I should have used the other Leaf shinobi as a shield… oh well._ He berated his course of action.

"Graugh damn it!" One of the Naruto's blurted. "Charge!" Another ordered and Kakuzu braced himself as all of the orange clothed figures thrush at him in force. After only a couple seconds the Akatsuki decided to charge right at the crowd fearlessly.

His foot connected with the first clone, 'killing' it in one swift blow. The second Naruto diverted passed Kakuzu, running towards Gai. The Akatsuki member raised an eyebrow but shifted his sickly green irises back to the matter at hand. Clones swarmed around him, but the inexperienced copies of a mere Genin were no match for an S-class ninja. One after another, Kakuzu reduced them to smoke until he finally knocked one back that didn't explode.

He skidded across the ground, a light cloud of dirt rising around him. "I found you," The bounty hunter smirked though no one could see it.

"Gai-sensei? Are you all right?"

"I'm f-fine. Never been better! The fires of youth still rage within me!" The shadow clone stared at him with a face of disbelief.

"So, who are you? And how could you know that we would cross paths with these adversaries?"

The blonde hesitated to reply. "I-I'm.. Nar… I mean Ki- err…" he sighed. "Kiba Inuzuka," he finally settled. "The Hokage sent us to relieve your squad because she needed you back at the village, looks like you got lucky." Gai didn't even seem to notice how much the Genin struggled to introduce himself by name.

The former Hidden Waterfall ninja took an intimidating step forward towards the real Naruto who was trying to stand back up. One of the last remaining shadow clones stepped in between them with a look of sheer determination. It amused Kakuzu that this kid, clone or not, thought he could really do anything to stop him after witnessing the demise of his lookalikes. "Very well…" Without further warning, his fist bolted for his face but the Genin caught it. Kakuzu furrowed his eyebrows and feigned with his other before bringing his right leg up for a kick but Naruto blocked it.

"Impossible," the annoyed S-Class criminal grunted, pulling his hand free and going on the offensive with a multitude of strikes that each was blocked or dodged. Then he undid the Jiongu threads on his right wrist and shot his detached fist out at the blonde, catching him off-guard. He impacted with Naruto's face and then intertwined the tendrils around the boy's neck. The boy exploded into smoke revealing a log. _Substitution? No way The_ next thing Kakuzu knew he was being hurdled away by a staggering kick to the side of his head.

The Akatsuki tumbled through the grass but recovered with a somersault and propped himself back up and into a stance immediately. Through his peripheral he caught a glimpse of a sort of black line advancing towards him rapidly. Not knowing what kind of jutsu he was dealing with he retreated tactfully until the line seemed to reach its limit. _He must have a range…_ The bounty hunter presumed, finding the castor of the jutsu was a different Naruto. He eyed the blondes with interest. "Reveal yourself," he commanded.

One Naruto appeared confused. "What?"

"Don't try and take me for a fool; you are not who you appear to be," Kakuzu analyzed with an intimidating sense of calm and collectiveness.

The Naruto he had been fighting gave a shrug accompanied by a smirk. "I guess it doesn't come as a surprise that you would figure it out so quickly," she digressed, dispelling the transformation jutsu. Two others, the one with the line jutsu which Kakuzu realized was actually a shadow and the one that had avoided him to check on Gai Maito dispelled their own transformation jutsu.

"I never liked charades anyway," one of them remarked. It was the one standing by Gai, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a small dog on top of his head and face markings Kakuzu recognized as an Inuzuka.

One of the Genin was in fact the one he had appeared to be fighting, the one who possessed the shadow clone jutsu. _A formidable technique coming from a mere brat…_ In addition to him was the third Genin of his team, the shadow user with pineapple shaped black hair sporting a jacket with chain mail. _I'll have to watch out for that one, I don't know what his jutsu is capable of and he's sneaky. Clearly a long range fighter… his limitations alone ought to be enough to hold him at bay as long as I watch myself._

The one Kakuzu found truly interesting however was the Jonin commander. She wore a skintight golden shirt covered with chain mail and purple miniskirt, a slightly oversized tan jacket around it. Her hair was as purple as the skirt, in a bizarre style with a spiky texture to it and also wore a familiar pair of earrings shaped as 9's. _Wait, nines? Ahh of course, her._ "I should have recognized you sooner; after all you are in the bingo book."

The confident kunoichi smirked back with interest. "So you think you know who I am, do ya?"

"Anko Mitarashi. Former student of my now-colleague, Orochimaru. Nicknamed in the bingo book as the 'Snake Mistress of the Leaf,' a Jonin level ninja that is projected to be qualified for the ANBU black OPs. Has knowledge of unique snake jutsu as well as their summons. Arguably the most fearsome kunoichi from the Leaf aside from Tsunade Senju."

The Genin stared at him with a touch of amazement that he dropped those specific details without ever meeting her before in real life. "If I didn't know better I'd say that sounded like respect, but I doubt the Akatsuki are prone to such feelings."

Kakuzu's eyebrow arose. "You have heard of the Akatsuki…"

Anko smirked at him. "You didn't think that I haven't spent time trying to track down that conniving bitch of a sensei of mine did you?"

 _When could she have possibly been doing that?_ Shikamaru thought to himself. _She spends all of her time training with us and doing missions practically. Unless she forfeited her social life entirely along with sleep there's no way she could have the time! Then again, couldn't she be talking about before taking team six?_

The group visibly tensed as the second Akatsuki landed beside his partner. "Kakuzu," he acknowledged. "I see you were interrupted as well… how rude."

Kakuzu's eyes widened only slightly as the rest of the Leaf ninja halted their pursuit having caught up with Kisame. "Two backup squads in addition to the main squad for a simple bodyguard mission to relieve a singular team?" The bounty hunter spoke, showing obvious signs of suspicion.

"Why would the Hidden Leaf send Genin to fight us? There must be some other reason for their numbers… They didn't know we were coming," Hoshigaki decided.

"I'm not insinuating that they did," he scowled. "We're missing something that's for sure."

"Does it really matter?" The shark inquired.

"Perhaps not, but _she_ knows about the Akatsuki, which means the Hidden Leaf knows of our organization. I wonder… _how_ much do they know…" He wondered as both Akatsuki gazes shifted to Anko.

Anko frowned as she realized she shouldn't have been so careless as to let them see that she already knew of the Akatsuki's existence. _Damn it… they don't need to know they're on our radar. Even worse: what if they decide Orochimaru can't be trusted because I was stupid enough to make it sound like I, his former student was the one who found out in the first place. Kakuzu is the type of guy who analyzes everything deeply like Shikamaru… though not to the same strategic extent. If he figures out the truth it could get sensei killed!_ Anko's fisted clenched tightly. _No… shut up Anko. They can't relay shit back to Pein if they both die here and now…_

Shikamaru watched Anko's well masked inner turmoil absentmindedly. Something didn't add up. They had known Anko for over three months, and she didn't like discussing the topic of her sensei. She only brought him up when it was for the purpose of teaching us something he taught her. But just now was the first time she ever showed any real animosity towards the Snake Sannin. She also seemed to know who they were dealing with, whereas Kakashi appeared to be left in the dark. Also, he noticed how surprised Kakuzu seemed when she said Akatsuki.

He had called Orochimaru a 'colleague' which didn't fit the script at all. It was talked about all across the village when the legendary Sannin was exiled. Rumors were just rumors and they all varied and had their own unique twist to what Orochimaru had supposedly done. There were a handful of things that consistently fell in line with every rumor he heard though… The most notable two being that he violated human rights… of course the rumors of what he specifically did were rather abundant and then the second being that he resisted arrest and actually fought his way out of the village wounding several ANBU members. Why in the hell would Orochimaru become a bounty hunter? That didn't hold any logic, unless the 'Akatsuki' was bigger than Shikamaru would've thought and they needed to cash in bounties to fund whatever their organization's real purpose was. A purpose that Orochimaru actually fit into. _Just what in the hell is going on here…_

"Kakashi Hatake…" Kakuzu grunted, looking over all of the ninja that had followed Kisame. "It would seem we've struck gold today, Kisame. Between our cash cow," he gestured the corpse he left on the ground earlier. "The Copy ninja, the Green Beast and the Snake Mistress we're in for a hefty payout. I'm willing to bet that Kakashi is worth more than the original target even…" The bounty hunter greedily explained to his partner.

"You can't actually believe that you can beat all of us by yourselves!" Gai regarded them confidently.

"YES! Gai-sensei is right! You should surrender now or be pummeled by our greater numbers and passionate teamwork steaming from the power of youth!" Lee joined.

Sweat dropped on the back of pretty much every ninja present, on both sides. "Who are these weirdos anyway…?" Sakura whispered but got no response. _And what the hell is up with those eyebrows!?_ Inner-Sakura flipped.

Gai smiled and his teeth shined an unnaturally bright flash. "I couldn't have put it better myself, Lee!"

Lee looked at his sensei with adoration and began to tear up hysterically. "Wh-Why you have no idea how much it means to me that you said that! Thank you Gai-sensei!"

"You're welcome Lee!" He replied tearing up a little as well.

"Oh GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

Teams six and seven stared on with disbelief and perhaps even a little denial that they were truly seeing this. Kakashi and Anko were not completely unfazed but looked more annoyed and disappointed… maybe even ashamed than shocked. Both Shikamaru and Sasuke had visible eye twitches.

"You were right about something for once billboard brow! They're lunatics!" Ino grumbled but Sakura appeared oblivious to the insult.

"I told you they were freaks…" Kisame reminded his partner.

"Will you shut up? You idiot." The amusement from Kisame's face did not fade however, accustomed to Kakuzu's 'pleasant personality.'

By now even Neji's face was flushed with embarrassment. Sure he was used to being humiliated by Gai and Lee but to this extent… in front of everyone who just saved them! Not to mention the two rogue ninja, though their opinions were irrelevant. Tenten on the other hand didn't care to compose herself she just went off on her teacher and teammate openly making team nine look like a bunch of idiots. After a few minutes they eventually calmed down and recomposed, though it was quite pathetic.

"If you fools are done… let's get this over with," Kakuzu insisted.

Kakashi stepped in front of the Genin. "Stay out of this; none of you are remotely prepared for a battle with these guys," he ordered while unraveling his Sharingan. Sasuke's expression was of displeasure, likely seething at a moment where he was too weak to be of use simply mocked him. Sakura didn't seem to need any encouragement on the matter and Ino seemed unaffected entirely by the order.

Anko and Gai did the same on the other side, getting in front of team six. "Listen to my rival! These are not ordinary enemies." Neji nodded in annoyed acceptance on the other side where team nine and seven were both gathered. Tenten didn't like it but knew firsthand there wasn't much she could do; Lee simply gave an overly excited agreement for the sole reason that his sensei said so.

Back to where team six stood idly behind Anko and Gai…"What? Leave it to you guys!? Then why are we here?" Naruto argued.

"Shut up Naruto; are you trying to die or something? These guys are probably more dangerous than Inoanji Yamanaka!"

"Well why are we ninja then Kiba? So we can get front row seats to watch the action?"

The Inuzuka scowled at him. "And part of being a ninja is following orders!"

"Grr I never thought you were a coward Kiba!"

"It's not cowardice!" He objected. "It's not my fault you're an idiot and can't see-"

"GUYS!" Shikamaru intervened. "Shut up… I can't think with you two bickering like a couple of _women."_ Naruto was about to retort but instead his mouth betrayed him succumbing to silence as Anko, Gai and Kakashi converged on the cloaked duo.

Gai targeted Kisame, knowing his efforts of using taijutsu were less than effective against the former Waterfall ninja whose jutsu was perfect for repelling physical attacks. "Don't rely on taijutsu against that guy; he has a body hardening jutsu!" He shouted at his allies before they assaulted Kakuzu.

Kisame smirked at the approaching spandex clad Jonin with anticipation. "I still find it hard to believe you're Maito Gai," he stated, raising Samehada to block Gai's attack. The bandages at the tip of the blade stripped and Samehada's scales cut into Gai's leg and he disengaged eying the sword with confusion. "Mighty stupid looking guy if you ask me."

Gai ignored the banter and assessed the sword's capabilities. _So the sword absorbs chakra… and doesn't have an actual blade but extremely sharp scales in its place._ Kisame chuckled at Gai's calculating face. "Go on and admire it; it doesn't slash it cuts you to ribbons!" He declared, raising it as he prepared to counterattack.

Gai whipped out his nunchuks in an instant and struck at the sword, one end of the nunchuks wrapped around and Gai grabbed it with his free hand then applied force in opposite directions holding the sword at bay but Kisame only laughed. "You'll have to do better than that," He warned as Gai's hold wavered. _He's strong._ The Leaf's Green Beast recollected, giving up on that strategy releasing his attempt at stopping the attack and evading Samehada's scales.

He leapt back, escaping his range. It was turning out that Kisame was no pushover either, and like Gai he was prominent in close range combat, but unlike Kakuzu, Gai knew he could hurt this ninja. The ex-Mist ninja was not going to be an easy opponent to battle with, but Gai loved a challenge!

Meanwhile Gai's allies made their own assault against Kakuzu. Kakashi dragged behind slightly, preferring to observe his opponent's defense of Anko with his Sharingan before making a play of his own, though he did launch a quick flurry of shuriken. The Akatsuki member raised a single arm up, and his skin darkened as the shuriken buried themselves into his arm. _That must be his body hardening jutsu that Gai spoke of… Earth style._ Hatake noted.

Anko wanted to test out his taijutsu prowess for herself, and also wanted to try and lure him into using that bizarre thread jutsu again because she had an idea to counter it that she wanted to try out. When the Akatsuki member's skin tone darkened she mentally inferred that was the jutsu Gai warned them about right before engaging. Her assumption was correct, as Kakuzu did not even flinch at the blow she planted in his gut and he smacked her across the face before slamming his foot into her stomach augmenting the damage through the Earth Spear technique and then sent her sailing away with a roundhouse.

Kakashi moved in lashing out with kunai in each hand; Kakuzu niftily evaded the first five strikes before he countered by detaching one hand expanding his reach with Jiongu and grabbing Kakashi by the throat, black tendrils capturing his wrists preventing him from slashing himself free with the kunai. _He's fast… with such unique abilities it's hard to follow, even with the Sharingan._ The Leaf Jonin noted. The Akatsuki turned his attention back to Anko as she bolted towards him again, smirking away. The bounty hunter detached his other hand and tried the same tactic on her once she got close, as he expected she was prepared for it catching his hand but she allowed the tendrils to wrap around her with a welcoming attitude. Snakes crept out of her sleeves, very thin brown ones intertwining themselves with Jiongu's tendrils. The snakes bit the threads with ferocity but accomplished nothing.

"It will take more than that to break these tendrils you fool."

Anko was still smirking though, holding his hand back, struggling to keep it from reaching her throat. "We'll see; Akatsuki scumbag."

"Damn it, they need our help already!" Kiba exclaimed.

"See I told you sitting here was a bad idea!" Naruto rubbed in.

"Let's go; come on!"

"No, stay put Kiba," The Nara commanded.

"But look at them! He's kicking their ass!"

"Yeah and we're Genin," Shikamaru stated narrowing his eyes on his teammate. "There's no way you're going to just charge in there without a plan and successfully do anything without getting killed. We have to play this out right if everyone's planning on coming home."

Naruto grunted. "Screw that, they need us now! I'm not going to wait for him to _kill_ them while you sit there and play chess with yourself in your head!" The infuriated Uzumaki snapped, charging at Kakuzu.

"Damn it," Shikamaru grumbled, making the handsign for Shadow Possession and snaring Naruto before he was even halfway over there.

"What the!? Traitor!" Naruto shouted angrily. Anko let out a sigh of relief that the Nara was on top of things. _That's right… keep him out of this, we only need to last a couple more minutes._

The Akatsuki's green eyes looked over Naruto with amusement. "You're not very smart," he taunted in his dark voice.

"Shut up! No one asked you!"

"Naruto! I'm not letting you run in there by yourself like a total idiot. So settle down and be ready for when we _do_ have to do something, because otherwise you're going to just sit here and force me to waste my chakra," Shikamaru pressed.

Gai had just released four of the inner gates, now his speed was proving to be a problem for the Hoshigaki clan member. _If I take his sword from him, I have no doubt that he'll be unable to keep up with me for much longer._ Gai thought, ducking from a swipe of Samehada. _And I still have more inner gates to release if need be._ He sidestepped another attack from the mostly bandaged sword and then stepped in with remarkable speed dishing out a flurry of punches to Kisame's exposed ribcage and just as quickly leapt back out of Samehada's range.

"Your hit and run tactics are annoying," Kisame chuckled, holding his ribs. "But I'll admit I'm still having fun at least."

Ignoring the playful comment went back on the offensive. The ex-Mist ninja struck out with Samehada again, but the sword went right through the blur that used to be Gai. _What the?_ Before Kisame knew what was happening, the green blur of a foot collided with his head and sent him flying and Samehada had been ripped from his grip. Gai spun the sword and around and threw it where team seven and nine's Genin were gathered. Lee had to step back to avoid the sword that fixated into the dirt in front of him. "Tenten! Seal away!" Her sensei commanded.

Kisame struggled to his feet. "Damn you," he yelled out running towards the Genin, making handsigns.

Tenten hurriedly searched through her backpack, pulling out an empty storage scroll. "PROTECT TENTEN!" Neji suddenly bursted the order out to all the Genin around her, him and Lee getting in front of her.

Gai meanwhile intercepted Kisame with his insane speed. "LEAF HURRICANE!" He bellowed but his foot strangely created a splash rather than knock a rogue ninja across the battlefield. _Water clone._ He realized, landing and looking around. "Neji!" He shouted absentmindedly.

"Byakugan!" He announced, activating the kekkei genkai and spotting the Akatsuki immediately.

"Out of the way!" he demanded throwing an explosive kunai at the ground and several of the Genin including himself were forced to jump back to avoid the detonation.

As the smoke cleared they could see Kisame, who had been tunneling underground, prying himself out of the scarred surface of the ground less than amused. "I suppose I should've expected that, you're a Hyuga after all," he reprimanded himself as Gai once again got in front of the Genin.

"It's done!" Tenten announced as Samehada vanished in a miniature cloud of smoke.

"Excellent work Tenten! Gai-sensei will have him on the ropes now!" Lee cheered.

"Yes great job! You as well, Neji!" Gai also complimented, giving one of those impeccably awkward thumbs up and creepy smiles routines.

 _Man, team nine is way better than us…_ Ino thought. _Even if they are totally weird._

 _They found a way to be useful, and I've still done absolutely nothing._ Sasuke thought to himself, anger beginning to boil inside.

"Well you're not as stupid as you look, but if you think I can't fight without Samehada you are gravely mistaken…" Kisame warned.

Anko's gaze shifted from Kakuzu to Kakashi, who was beginning turn blue. Kakuzu's grip on his throat was about to cause him to pass out. _Damn it, this is taking too long._ She opened wide and shot a larger green snake out of her mouth right passed the surprised Akatsuki and clamped the mouth of it on the hand around Kakashi, pulling it back as far as it could… giving the copy ninja a chance to take in some air.

"You should be worried about yourself," the rogue advised, suddenly pushing the other hand that was directed at her with renewed effort.

"I… could say… the same to… you," Anko struggled to retort, barely keeping the hand from clenching her neck.

 _His grip is faltering…_ Kakashi noticed a moment later. Kakuzu's calm demeanor took a hit as he suddenly let out a series of ferocious coughs. The tendrils of Jiongu's grip weakened with each cough and both Kakashi and Anko were able to break loose. Anko withdrew the snake form her mouth and licked her lips with creepy satisfaction.

"What the hell… did you do?" The bounty hunter demanded through coughs.

"I baited you into capturing me," she revealed haughtily. "I sent a strong and rare poison through those tendrils of yours, and I suppose my choice of where to insert it into your system is why it took longer than usual to take effect. But it doesn't matter, you're done for…"

"All right Anko-sensei!" Naruto cheered as Shikamaru sighed in relief and released his shadow possession.

"I guess we should've expected her to do something like that…" Kiba thought aloud. "If she was trying to break free she would've used larger snakes."

Anko smiled as Kakuzu stopped breathing. "Team Anko one, Akatsuki zero!"

"I never agreed to calling us team Anko…" Kakashi mumbled.

"Well they generally name the squads after the best ninja on the team," She remarked arrogantly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "So you think you're better than me huh?"

"Well I honestly can't say… but I do know I have more Akatsuki kills than you," She gloated.

The Sharingan user sighed. "Let's help Gai before his body suffers too much from opening the inner gates."

"Right," she agreed in a way too cheerful demeanor for someone who was just snared in a trap of strange tendrils and had someone trying to choke her. "Hey, wait up!" She spat as Kakashi moved on without her.

Kakashi made a cautious but fast approach towards the back of the ex-Mist ninja, using the Silent Killing technique he had copied off of Zabuza in his recent mission in the Land of Waves. He drew closer, and closer and Kisame had still made no indication that he'd been noticed as he prepared to leap forward and strike. He raised his hand and channeled lightning chakra through it, forming the Chidori. Kisame finally caught on upon hearing the lightning jutsu ignite and his bizarre eyes widened as he raised an arm to block Gai's strike. But before the impact could be made someone blindsided him and sent him skidding across the terrain.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura blurted with concern.

"How in the fuck are you alive!?" Anko shouted with incredulity as Kakuzu landed by Kisame and the two engaged Gai together forcing him to fall back.

"Heh, what took you so long?"

"Shut up Kisame," his green irises narrowing on Anko with vengeful intent.

"But how… he couldn't have faked his death. Why would he? He had us both with no incentive to let us escape like that. He had nothing to gain so he surely couldn't have been merely acting." Kakashi analyzed. _Anko said it was a rare poison so it seems unlikely he was carrying a cure, and I didn't notice him take one if he did._

"Byakugan," Neji stated, examining the somehow living rogue ninja.

Tenten watched Neji's confused facial expressions with interest. "What is it? What do you see?"

"I…I don't know Tenten… I'm not sure how it's possible but he appears to have four beating hearts!"

The Genin of all three teams stared at him and then at Kakuzu with alarmed shock and amazement. _Four beating hearts? How many strange and unique abilities does this guy have?_ Shikamaru pondered. _I'm guessing that if he dies his body switches to the next one and revives him, and tissue or bone damage is repaired by those bizarre threads flowing throughout his system. But that means.. we have to kill him four more times?! Man, what a drag this mission is turning into._

 ** _A/N:_** **Gonna cut it off there for now. Let me know what yall think =)**


	13. Jiongu Unleashed

**Chapter 13: Jiongu Unleashed**

 ** _A/N:_** **Yo, in hilarious fashion… I had not added any of the Naruto terms or names to the word doc's dictionary and I literally drove it to the point where I had so many 'errors' that it would no longer calculate the new ones Lol. So I had to waste time adding a million damn things into the dictionary from Naruto to jutsu to Kakuzu to shinobi omg it was a drag as Shika might say…**

 **Anyhow, not much to say beyond that this time, just going to pick up where we left off and continue the battle. Enjoy**

Kakuzu's irises enveloped Anko's figure in fury. "You took one of my hearts away from me…" The Leaf ninja flinched at the statement, as it clarified what Neji had just detected.

"That is something that has not happened to me in a very long time! Fortunately, hearts are easy to replace. For example, _your_ heart will do just fine Snake mistress."

"Well I'd be happy to extract it for you," Kisame offered gleefully.

"No. You stay out of this; I don't need your help," he refused with a harsh sense of contempt.

Kisame chuckled. "So hostile… Is that a side effect of how someone feels when they allow themselves to be poisoned and lose one of their lives? I wouldn't know."

Kakuzu's gaze finally left Anko for a moment and scrutinized his partner instead. "Better to lose something that can be easily fixed than to allow your enemy to seal your _irreplaceable_ primary weapon Kisame."

The other Akatsuki growled at him but didn't deny the ex-Waterfall ninja had a point. " _If_ you were smart you would have put out large amount of your seemingly endless chakra to try and attract Samehada, but you didn't," Kakuzu continued to berate. "But again, that was _if_ you were smart."

"Damn you Kakuzu you always tell me I don't know when to shut up, but you-"He was rudely interrupted by Kakuzu's hand being propelled by Jiongu clamping around his throat.

"You're right Kisame… I do tell you to shut up frequently; this is one of those times."

 _This guy doesn't play around… he's hardly even showing mercy to his own partner._ Kakashi reflected.

"As I already said before: stay out of this; I don't need your help," Kakuzu repeated, dropping his fellow Akatsuki and returning his focus to the Leaf squads; his eyes narrowed onto Anko yet again.

Kisame had been dropped right on his ass and he didn't move as he eyed Kakuzu carefully who was slowly and calmly making steps towards their opposition. Sure he was used to his partner's attitude and the things that came with it, the banter the false death threats… though at the moment they seemed to be less false. The obsession with money and effective use of their time, his constant need to make the decisions for the pair… But this was the first time Kakuzu actually lashed out at his partner. He could easily recall Kakuzu's short warning stories about how he killed people who worked with him over the years for either their incompetence or their doing something to piss him off. The ex-Mist ninja always felt their association with the Akatsuki would prevent Kakuzu's violence from harming him, and while he wasn't afraid of his partner and hadn't forgotten about all of his own capabilities he still felt that Kakuzu was superior to him.

The bounty hunter had up to five lives… and Kisame didn't think in a fight between them that he could kill the ex-Waterfall ninja five times before dying himself. This was Kakuzu after all; one of the most dangerous shinobi in the world, not to mention his prolonged life made him _the_ most experienced shinobi with the possible exception of Madara Uchiha… In addition, he had one of the most unique arsenals at his disposal. Five hearts, access to every chakra nature, the ability to detach his other hearts into autonomous chakra beings (though he had yet to see that in action, he imagined it was quite formidable) not to mention the Earth Spear technique that made taijutsu and most weapons next to useless. Jiongu could also patch up just about any wound he suffered… the man was the closest thing to immortal Kisame could fathom, though he also knew Madara was alive somewhere… making him immortal in some way as well apparently.

Kisame dusted himself off. "I won't interfere; so don't bother asking me to if you change your mind," He called out, but received no reply. The bounty hunter stopped walking, scanning over all of the Leaf shinobi with his intimidating eyes.

"This fight is still between him and us Jonin," Kakashi clarified without taking his eyes off of their predator.

"Kakashi is absolutely right!" Gai supported. "This enemy is just too dangerous for Genin to face at such a youthful age!" Gai's bizarre statement didn't seem to register with any of the Genin but no one argued, every one of them would admit this was way above their heads at this point.

Anko's eyes flickered at Kisame, not entirely trusting him to actually stay out of the battle. It turned out to be a huge mistake as the other Akatsuki chose that moment of divided focus to attack. Lunging forth, he hardened the tips of his fingers down to his wrist with the Earth Spear technique. To her credit, she recovered masterfully, evading several strikes before drawing kunai. To Anko's knowledge he was not using the Earth Spear technique because his skin tone had not changed visibly, but his gloves and Akatsuki cloak made it impossible to tell just by looking. Needless to say, she was caught a bit off guard when she struck out at him and he merely caught the kunai at the peak of its blade, drilling it right into his hardened hand without a care in the world.

The former Hidden Waterfall ninja spotted the Sharingan user approaching from his right flank and tightened his grip on the kunai, grasping Anko's hand as he did so and threw her straight into the Hatake's path, aborting his attack to catch her.

"Now's my chance! SIX-INNER GATES!" He announced, powering up.

Most of the ninja on the battlefield's eyes widened with incredulity as Gai's skin tone became a sunburned red and they swore they could see an aura of _energy_ surround him as he moved with unbelievable speed towards the rogue Akatsuki.

Kakuzu rolled his fake-looking eyes. "This nonsense again?" He spat, ready to activate the Earth Spear technique.

Before he did however, Gai punched forward at the air with _impossible_ speed and the Akatsuki found himself side stepping an erratic form of fire. _A ninjutsu that is performed by a punching motion?_ Kakuzu pondered as Gai flung his fists forward many times to try and bury the bounty hunter in flames. The ex-Waterfall ninja dodged the initial barrage but the attacks came in contact with the ground not only set it ablaze but also created a combination of a dirt cloud and smoke.

 _Damn it._ Kakuzu thought trying to track Gai's location before screaming in agony as something collided with his back and sent him skidding across the ground. Gai pursued his tumbling foe with lightning speed and calculated the trajectory needed for his next attack before leaping into the air. Gravity did the rest of his work for him as he fell upon the enemy with a ferocious kick that blasted Kakuzu through the ground and deep into the soil. The impact was so vicious that the surrounding terrain cracked and part of the pit his attack created collapsed on the Akatsuki.

Kisame watched on with horror. _What the hell?_ He thought, staring at what anyone else would conceive to be Kakuzu's final resting place.

"All right!" Naruto cheered.

"Man that was bad ass! I wonder if _that_ was enough to kill all four hearts at once?" Kiba thought aloud.

"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI IS BURNING WITH THE FIRES OF YOUTH!" Needless to say… those standing closest to Lee at that moment stepped away just a little bit…

Underground, two green irises shot open with calm rage, as a different heart took over for the previous. _If they want to go all-out… then so be it._

"Be on guard… I doubt he's done," Kakashi stated.

"Yeah… He's too big of a pain in the ass to die that fast," Anko agreed.

"Do you guys hear that?" Kakashi inquired at the sound of Kakuzu grunting in severe discomfort. _No way… Gai actually beat him that quickly?_

 _"_ Hear what?" Gai stated oblivious, despite still using six inner gates.

"He sounds like he's… in a lot of pain," Anko smiled with satisfaction.

The underground noises they heard settled down and stopped completely earning major skeptical awareness above the surface. Without any warning, the already severally cracked surface exploded at the combined force of fire, lightning, and wind jutsus. A duo of strange black chakra beings emerged from the crater with the rogue ninja behind them. Kakuzu's cloak was discarded somewhere under the rubble and his mask was gone as well, revealing his strange aged and stitched up body to them all for the first time as well as his surprisingly long hair.

The chakra constructs each blasted an attack at Anko and Kakashi, revealing they were the ones that had used the wind and lightning attacks when emerging from underground. "Oh no you don't! You still have to deal with ME!" Gai insisted and charged towards the Akatsuki and his allies.

Kakuzu's now visible mouth formed a smirk as he silently ordered the two constructs to merge together and they fired a wide blast across the landscape ensuring he could not dodge. Gai screamed audibly in pain as his body was sent through the trees after suffering major electrocution.

 _Gai didn't know they could merge and launch combined attacks as powerful as that one… he had no idea what was coming and was caught off guard._ Kakashi analyzed. _Wind and Lightning style together forming a blast like that is like being hit by a lightning bolt and a powerful air current at the same time._

The chakra constructs split again and moved towards the corpse the Akatsuki had previously acquired, each firing a quick attack towards the Genin group as they went by, forcing them to get down. "Is everyone all right?" Lee asked, drawing several responses of confirmation and nothing from two stuck up members of highly esteemed clans. _But is Gai-sensei all right?_

All of the Leaf ninja present had questioning, critical, interested or analytical gazes as the revived rogue casually walked in the direction of the corpse he'd brought with him from his and Kisame's previous bounty hunt, where his chakra constructs sat awaiting. _He's only been dead for about twelve or thirteen hours… its compatibility is not lost._ The Akatsuki recollected, strolling up to the body and coming to a stop before extending a multitude of Jiongu's tendrils into the deceased man's chest.

"What the hell is he doing?" Kiba asked angrily.

"Uh…Neji?" Tenten hinted and he made no attempt to acknowledge her beyond muttering 'Byakugan.'

Through his Dojutsu, he watched vividly as the tendrils wrapped themselves around their target and dislodged it from its bodily attachments then proceeded to extract it from its host and by then the Byakugan wasn't needed. Everyone could see what Kakuzu had done… "He's replacing the heart Gai-sensei just killed…" He realized.

"What!? Oh come on that's no fair!" Naruto complained.

Sasuke snorted. "Shut up idiot; he's an extremely dangerous rogue shinobi. Why would he do anything resembling fair?"

Ignoring them and interrupting before Naruto could get into a long verbal squabble with his rival Shikamaru added to Sasuke's point. "Remember what he said earlier? He wanted to replace the heart Anko destroyed with the snake poison… with _her_ heart. I guess that means he can replenish his hearts with any kill he gets."

"In other words, he could create a diversion for our senseis to kill one of us just as a move to replace hearts if he loses more…" Sakura considered.

Kiba and Akamaru growled simultaneously. "Then we just have to figure out a way to kill the bastard multiple times so fast he never gets the chance. What do ya say Shikamaru?"

The Nara sighed. "I'm working on it…"

"May I ask what it is you are working on?" Lee stated confused.

"Shikamaru's a tactical genius," Ino answered for them. "It's kind of his clan's thing," she then added, very familiar with the Nara clan as a Yamanaka member.

"Shikamaru will figure something out! Believe it!" Naruto agreed.

* * *

Anko, Gai and Kakashi looked on at their opponent with disgust after he finished inserting his new organ. "Now do you see?" He taunted. "Ultimately, even killing me is futile."

"Everyone dies eventually Kakuzu… even Madara Uchiha wasn't too strong to be killed."

His eyes stared into Anko's coldly at the reminder of Hashirama Senju's accomplishment. "Yes… The first Hokage was able to defeat Madara… But he only succeeding in forcing _me_ to retreat."

Anko and Kakashi's eyes widened in confusion. "What are talking about?"

"I fought and lost to your beloved first Hokage; I have been around a very very long time… Jiongu has greatly prolonged my life," The rogue explained. "I do not disagree with your sentiment that immortality does not exist, but I have no desire for mine to end today!" He declared making lightning fast handsigns to reshape the terrain around them. Blades of grass were discarded into the air as the surface formed large rocky spikes that were directed at the two Leaf Jonin. The spikes each honed in on a target and pursued relentlessly as Kakuzu stood idly by maintaining a handsign as he controlled them.

Both Kakashi and Anko retreated but the Sharingan user was on top of things, preparing a Chidori on the run. As they passed a tree, Anko slowed her pace and twirled her body around it, managing to lure one of the spike into the trunk halfway puncturing it as she sped back up to catch her teammate, two more spikes in hot pursuit while the remaining spikes were still tailing Kakashi who'd managed to ignite his jutsu. The Hatake stopped running with a brief slide and spun around cutting down the four spikes with the blade. Anko ran by him and he leapt up to slash down the remaining two spikes that had been chasing her.

"He's a proficient Lightning-style user," Kakuzu grumbled in annoyance because he preferred to use Earth-style.

The Leaf tandem caved in on him from opposite sides and Kakuzu expertly avoided the barrage of strikes. His eyes danced back and forth to read the moves of both opponents and accommodate them. When he found the chance he swerved away from Kakashi's leg and made a short leap backwards to put both of his adversaries in front of him rather than at two sides. The Leaf Jonin each began to move forward with their feet to continue their assault and the Akatsuki responded by leaping over them, making a single handsign for the Earth Spear technique as he did so. Kakashi noticed this and when he and Anko skidded their feet slightly and turned around he lagged back to charge a Chidori.

Anko however pressed on, but the Akatsuki easily evaded the first, blocked the second and ignored the kick to his hardened body as he slammed a knee in her gut. She coughed violently, a trace of blood escaping the tunnel of her throat. Before she could consider her next move Kakuzu had already kicked her away. With her body out of his view he finally noticed what Kakashi had been doing as his eyes set on the Chidori. _He's figured out how to counter the Earth Spear technique._

The threaded menace spun away from the attack but the Sharingan user didn't relent. Kakuzu was forced to duck another slash and back away silently signaling one of his chakra constructs to intervene. Kakashi noticed the blast from the wind construct at the last possible second and slid to the ground allowing it to pass over him. Kakuzu meanwhile was running backwards making a tactical retreat while deactivating the Earth Spear technique.

Although Kakashi's Chidori had dissipated, another hostile jutsu was surging right at the bounty hunter. He narrowly avoided the fury of Anko's fire jutsu, the flames flirting with the outmost layer of his skin. The snake mistress however had already prepared a follow up jutsu the by the time he regained his composure. She raised her hands into the air and emitted dozens of miniature fire balls which proceeded to rain within a surrounding radius. _Fire style: Incinerating Hail Technique_. The Akatsuki recognized, making his own handsigns to counter with a Water Wall in which he took cover behind. _If her initial poisoning of me earlier had not eliminated my water heart I could release that construct to counter her strategy, but instead I have to resort to my own limited supply of Water style abilities._ He didn't have time to worry about this however, spotting Kakashi Hatake approaching once again.

* * *

"They've got this!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Well they do appear to be in control at the moment…" Neji added. "But you can't be sure of anything with this man as an opponent."

Shikamaru nodded. "He has an incredible stockpile of techniques and abilities I never would have thought existed… and though it's a two on one battle, those black things are there to aid him as well."

"When they aren't trying to kill us you mean…" Sakura grumbled.

"Let's not forget about that other guy either though," Naruto reminded pointedly causing a few heads to turn and glance in Kisame's direction. The said rogue ninja was idly standing by with his arms casually crossed over his chest smugly.

"Yes, it is highly unlikely he will simply forget about his sword being sealed away in one of Tenten's scrolls," Neji concurred. "I've been indirectly keeping an eye on him closely with my Byakugan but I'm using up a lot of chakra in the process."

"Then stop," Shikamaru advised. "It's highly possible that we will all be needed at some point during this battle, the three of them are tiring themselves out just trying to take one of these Akatsuki down, the other will be at his best. To be honest… I'm not sure any of us are coming out of this alive, save your chakra."

"Shikamaru!" Ino screamed in his ear. "What the hell are you saying? We're all going to be fine! You're just the most negative person in the history of our village!"

"Aaaugh…" He moaned clasping his tortured ear. "Don't be ignorant; this situation isn't looking good, even if Anko and Kakashi-senseis take this guy down right now, the other one is still a serious problem."

"You should listen to your boyfriend… He's right, things are not looking great," Neji concurred. The first part of that statement caused both Naruto and Kiba to shoot questioning glances at Shikamaru who simply shook his head in denial.

Lee sighed in annoyance. "Meet Neji Hyuga, the second most negative person in the history of our village." Neji scowled but said nothing audible, and Tenten tried to suppress a giggle in spite of the situation they were all currently in. But Ino only truly heard one part of those last comments…

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

Before a sarcastic retort could be made by Neji, Sakura or anyone… "Watch out!" Sasuke shouted hitting the dirt followed quickly by the others before any of them could be fried by the lightning construct.

* * *

"Anko, we have to hit him with a Lightning style jutsu; his body hardening technique is an Earth style jutsu," He had wanted to relay this finding for quite some time but Kakuzu kept them so busy he hadn't found the chance to until this point.

She smirked without shifting her eyes from the rogue ninja. "All right… it's not my specialty but I'll see what I can do. How much longer can you keep forming the Chidori?"

"A few more times…"

"Then let's make em' count Kakashi."

"As I told you before, even killing me is futile. Just give up, surrender your hearts to me and your bodies to the Akatsuki and I will take pity on your Genin teams and spare their lives. I will not give you another chance to take this offer, so you would be wise to take it."

Anko knelt down and pressed both her hands onto the ground concentrating her chakra and creating a trio of rock clones. "Not a chance," all four responded, simultaneously pulling a dagger out of a pouch on their hip.

Kakashi glanced at the original quizzically. "Is that a chakra blade?" He asked, unaware she used chakra blades.

"Yeah… I only have it for one technique so no one see's it very often."

"So be it," Kakuzu remarked, challenging.

The quad of Anko's sparked their chakra blades to life with lightning style and split up. The ex-Waterfall ninja immediately saw her attempt to surround him but seemed content with trying to figure out what she was trying to do. He watched as each Anko reached a certain angle around him and slashed at the ground before running to another position and repeating the process a second time. Then they all positioned themselves at the twelve, three, six, and nine o'clock positions in a ring. Kakuzu analyzed where they slashed at the ground and realized the angles were much like a clock, as if every 'hour' had been marked or had an Anko standing in its place.

"Your jutsu must usually rely on your opponent being apprehended or preoccupied… Normally, no competent opponent would allow you time to make all of those preparations as I just did."

"Spare me the lecture… I use more clones if I have to!" She snapped back.

"More clones would equate to more chakra, what a waste."

"Doesn't matter… when you use it on a finishing move!" She retorted, all four Anko's raising the chakra blades before slashing forward, commanding and entire ring of electricity to form and converge on the Akatsuki. "Lightning style: Static Condemnation!"

As the electricity made contact with the Earth Spear technique, Kakuzu leapt into the air landing on his wind construct that he had apparently called in silently. _Damn her attack didn't have enough time to truly pass by his defense and damage him. If it were a stronger attack it would have instantly dropped his jutsu._ Kakashi analyzed.

Kakuzu laughed darkly as the rock clones reverted back to well… rocks. "You call _that_ a finishing move?"

"No… the finishing move was what I planned to do to you without that damn body hardening jutsu."

The wind construct opened its mouth wide, charging an attack as Kakuzu nodded. "I see," He acknowledged and watched her duck for cover as the wind attack soared by decimating the plant life.

 _This is my chance!_ Kakashi decided, jumping into the air kicking the Akatsuki off of his ride. The bounty hunter had activated the Earth Spear technique but he still lost his balance and fell off. As the two of them dropped, Kakashi was already starting another Chidori before even landing. Kakuzu caught a glimpse of it through the corner of his eyes and hardened his right hand and wrist. The second Kakashi landed he was sprinting towards the Akatsuki, and the second Kakuzu landed he launched his hand out through Jiongu's extension.

Kakashi swerved to avoid it and chopped through Jiongu's tendrils with his lightning blade, robbing him of an arm. He turned and ran after Kakuzu again, and the ex-Waterfall ninja just stared on without worry and didn't bother reacting towards the approaching Leaf Jonin. The Hatake gazed at him with his Sharingan as he closed in, knowing something was off…

"AAAUUGH!" The slightly muffled cry of pain traveled through the mask as Kakashi dropped to his knees in a quickly growing pool of his own blood.

"KAKASHI SENSEI!" Several Genin shouted from a distance in panic.

"Kakashi!?" Anko also freaked while evading an attack by the wind construct.

Kakuzu chuckled at the sight. "Even with your Sharingan eye, you were completely oblivious to the true motives behind my movements."

Kakashi paid him no mind, instead preoccupied with staring at his wound. There was a gaping hole near the center of his body, something ripped right through it. That something, lied in the puddle of the blood he was in the process of creating, Kakuzu's hand to wrist along with Jiongu's tendrils and a wad of the threads was… _beating_ like that of a heart. "I never- Would've- guessed you could- control the arm separately," He croaked through coughs.

 ** _A/N:_** **How am I doing guys n' gals…? This was the hardest chapter for me to write thus far, though that is not what took me like two weeks; I've been busy job hunting instead of writing lol. Anyhow I hope yall like how the fight has gone so far… and I have a special twist in store for the next chapter that I think you will all find interesting.**

 **Also, next chapter concludes this arc. Til next time**


	14. Battle of Hearts

**Chapter 14: Battle of Hearts**

 ** _A/N:_** **To be honest, I wrote chapter 15 first this time lol. I knew exactly how everything was going to roll sooo I felt like writing 15 simply because I wanted a brief break from writing battle scenes! Then I wound up combining 14 and 15 because I felt 15 was not only short by this story's standards but also felt like a meh chapter as a standalone. So I made this chapter huge instead.**

 **On top of that, still job hunting which doesn't help me find writing time… Now without further delay have fun reading the end to what I'm officially calling the 'Akatsuki emersion arc'**

 **Enjoy**

"KAKASHI SENSEI!" Several Genin shouted from a distance in panic.

"Kakashi!?" Anko also freaked while evading an attack by the wind construct.

Kakuzu chuckled at the sight. "Even with your Sharingan eye, you were completely oblivious to the true motives behind my movements."

Kakashi paid him no mind, instead preoccupied with staring at his wound. There was a gaping hole near the center of his body, something ripped right through it. That something, lied in the puddle of the blood he was in the process of creating, Kakuzu's hand to wrist along with Jiongu's tendrils and a wad of the threads was… _beating_ like that of a heart. "I never- Would've- guessed you could- control the arm separately," He croaked through coughs.

Sakura dropped to her knees feeling very _weak_. "K-Kak-Kakashi-sensei…"

Sasuke and Ino both looked to be in shock, they knew their sensei wasn't invincible but even Zabuza Momochi wasn't able to defeat him and on top of that he was a very difficult person to catch by surprise while the Sharingan was active… especially with abilities he was already aware of like in this case. Ino momentarily looked like her emotions were going to get the better of her and force some tears out but it quickly hardened into angry determination. Sasuke's fists clenched together and casted a glare in Kakuzu's direction that could only be described as vengeful.

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. "To be honest… I did not expect that maneuver to work on a Sharingan user. Perhaps I've been overestimating my colleague's Dojutsu." Sasuke's eyes widened. _What!?_

"Then again you are not an Uchiha, it is expected that Itachi's prowess would be more refined," Kakuzu added. Sasuke's fisted balled with even more fury than he already contained. These were his _brother's_ associates.

"Shikamaru! That's it we gotta do something already!" Naruto yelled at his teammate who nodded.

"Then hurry up and make shadow clones."

Naruto smacked his palm with his other fist. "You got it! How many do ya need?"

"I don't care; you're the diversion make as many as you need to get in the Akatsuki's way." Naruto nodded and made his handsign, creating a large force of shadow clones but Shikamaru was already moving on.

"Sakura, I want you to grab Kakashi. Neji and Lee will stay close to you. Ino and Tenten cover them from the chakra constructs! Kiba, Sasuke and Akamaru, I want you to be the secondary diversionary team in case the Akatsuki guy slaughters all of Naruto's clones too quickly. Move!" The Nara initiated and the whole team took off accepting that Shikamaru designated himself to step up to the plate as the Genin leader.

As the Genin sprinted towards their wounded comrade or in Naruto's clones' case a suicide mission against Kakuzu, the wheels in Shikamaru's head continued to turn. _The Akatsuki said he planned to take Anko-sensei's heart to replace the one she poisoned. There's no reason to think he wouldn't try to take Kakashi's right now._ His gaze shot straight to his target, the arm Kakuzu used to deliver the blow. He eyed Jiongu's tendrils which were whisking around without purpose at the moment but what he found truly revealing was the fact a ball of those threads appeared to have a heart beat which could only mean one thing. _The arm was able to act autonomously because he detached one of his hearts along with it… I have to destroy it!_ As Shikamaru was also expecting, the arm began to move towards Kakashi, intending to retrieve another heart for Kakuzu.

"Not so fast…" Shikamaru drawled with a slight smirk, making his signature handsign. The arm stopped dead in its tracks as the Nara's shadow paralyzed it. "Shadow Possession jutsu, complete."

Sakura tended to Kakashi, supporting his far larger frame as she prepared to move him to a safer location. Lee, deciding it was difficult for her and they needed to move fast supported the other side. Kakashi was consciousness was slipping.

 _I've got to hurry up._ Shikamaru thought, pulling a kunai out, his focus still on the arm. "Allow me," Neji interjected. "This will be more efficient," he insisted, activating his Byakugan and slamming his open palm into the heart. "GENTLE FIST!" He shouted not so gently. Shikamaru resumed his shadow possession for a moment to be safe, but he didn't need a Byakugan to see that the heart's beating had ceased so he dropped his jutsu and the two turned their attention to the others.

The bounty hunter's eyes widened the second he sensed his newly acquired fire heart die before it could extract Kakashi's. "These damn brats…" He muttered, plowing his leg through the last of Naruto's shadow clones. Kakuzu was getting very tired of losing hearts. That was the third damn time one of these Leaf bastards managed to kill one.

In the bushes close by, a bowl cut figure with seemingly sunburned skin yelped as he quite painfully struggled to his feet, panting afterwards. "It… hurts so much… just to stand!" He told the trees around him. "But I won't let that stop the Hidden Leaf's Green Beast! My comrades need me! I'll just ignore the pain and when we return to the village I will punish myself for my lack of stamina with the Eight Inner-gates by performing one thousand laps around the village on my hands!" He paused and scratched his chin. "Backwards!" He decided with conviction and jolted off towards the battle.

"Looks like it's our turn…" Kiba stated obviously, as the ex-Waterfall ninja approached them.

"Kiba! Sasuke! Back off, Naruto's clones bought us enough time!" Shikamaru announced.

Kiba and Sasuke shared a glance and nodded before taking their tactical retreat. Kakuzu smugly watched as they duo regrouped with the rest of the Genin. The pink haired one and the brat that was the spitting image of Gai Maito were carrying one of his prizes away. "There's no chance those little brats know Medical Ninjutsu… they cannot save him," The Akatsuki decided, mentally ordering the wind construct to join the lightning construct in pursuit.

Kakuzu himself turned his attention to the Jonin his wind construct was previously engaged with. He barreled into Leaf Kunoichi, who made a nifty midair recovery to land on her feet skidding back slightly. Her hazel eyes gouged into his pupiless greens like a kunai. "Did you actually think I would allow you to pass me by and try to save them? That would be foolishly counterproductive."

Anko said nothing, continuing to glare at him and consider her options. She was low on chakra, and the others had their hands full right now. "LEAF HURRICANE!" A voice echoed through the air and pounced on the spot Kakuzu was standing with lightning speed igniting an enormous cloud of dust. When the cloud dissipated it was revealed that Gai missed his mark, Kakuzu had apparently backed away at the last second.

"Gai! One of us has to lend our Genin a hand," Anko relayed, grateful he was back into the picture.

He looked back at her and flashed a toothy smile. "Right," he gave a thumbs up. "Just leave it to me! I cannot continue to tap into the Eight Inner gates, so I'm afraid I am the wrong person to matchup with this foe."

Anko nodded in understanding. "Good luck…"

"We don't need luck when we have the fires of our YOUTH!" He proclaimed with insane enthusiasm.

Regardless, Anko smirked and shut her eyes momentarily. "Just don't let any of our Genin die… you don't even want to know what I'd do to you if someone from team six didn't make it out of this," She stated with a dark façade that reminded Gai of her former mentor… a lot…

Gai wasn't fazed however. "Not to worry!" He assured and took off leaving Anko's attention solely on Kakuzu.

The Akatsuki's eyes drifted to Anko's ears for the second time that day. The earrings that were identical to Orochimaru's perturbed the bounty hunter. "You acted as if you hated your sensei, and yet… One would think by looking at you that you admire him."

"Shut up! You don't know _anything_ about what that piece of garbage did!"

"You wear identical earrings to him, and also seem to have a trend of purple in your attire… Orochimaru's favorite color. You have a personality that in some respects reminds me of his as well; your side that lusts for blood."

"I said shut up!" Anko demanded, charging at him hoping the Akatsuki was only trying to rile her up and didn't actually have any suspicions.

Kisame nearby was tapping his fingers impatiently against the bark of a tree that was supporting him. "I wish Kakuzu would wrap this up already; I want to retrieve Samehada… the longer this fight drags on the more possible it is for him to lose, and I agreed not to interfere."

 _Damn you Kakuzu… If I broke that agreement, even to save your life you would probably kill me you cold prideful bastard._

"I suppose if I allowed you to get killed I could do whatever I want; Lord Pein would not approve though," He thought allowed. "So you better get it over already."

"Let's see if we can find some cover!" Kiba shouted to his teammates who were retreating as fast as they could from the two chakra constructs, while also covering Sakura and Lee the best they could. The Inuzuka tossed all of his smoke bombs out hoping it would conceal their movements while they found a sufficient hideout to plan their next move. Or more accurately, give Shikamaru time to think.

Purple gas quickly cloaked the Genin force and Tenten saw it as an opportunity, pulling a scroll out. She unleashed a barrage of kunai with paper bombs attached, smirking as they soared through the cloud of thick smoke expecting to do some damage this time. So far the chakra constructs proved to be elusive targets. Her smirk faded away in the blink of an eye though, when the wind construct wasted Kiba's smoke bombs and sent her kunai off their trajectory. _Rats!_ She thought, turning around to catch up to the others.

"Damn it," Kiba cursed, realizing his mistake.

"Multi-Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto stated, creating a small squad of clones. "Buy us some time!" He commanded, pointing at the chakra constructs and six Naruto's broke formation and ran the opposite direction of the rest of the Genin.

Sasuke eyed the original out of the corner of his eye incredulously. _Where did he get the chakra and skill to make so many clones? He was a joke in the academy…_

The group settled for gathering behind a large boulder, but they knew it was only a matter of time before they would be discovered. The sound of Naruto's being blasted with lightning and dying off could be heard in the background as most of the group turned to Shikamaru while team nine's members instead turned to Neji.

"He's alive, but in dire condition…" Sakura told them as she rested Kakashi against the boulder slowly.

"What're we going to do?" Tenten asked.

"Someone has to take him and retreat back to the Hidden Leaf village, as fast as they can," Shikamaru replied thoughtfully.

"Byakugan," Neji whispered and activated his Dojutsu, staring right through the boulder. "The chakra constructs haven't caught onto our position yet, but we don't have much time."

"Maybe we should try setting up a trap and luring them in, they're jutsus are crazy strong…" Tenten suggested.

"One thing at a time here, who's taking Kakashi-sensei back to the Leaf?" Kiba spun everyone's attention back.

"I think the least useful person here should be the one to do it," Sasuke suggested.

"Hey, I know what you're about to say and you can forget it! I'm not the dead last anymore! And I won't leave my sensei and teammates behind when we're up against this! Forget it!" Naruto exploded.

Sasuke eyed him carefully. "I actually wasn't referring to you…" He stated, quite aware of his stunts with the shadow clones twice throughout the battle and shifted his gaze to Sakura. "I was talking about her."

In that moment, Sakura felt like she had shrunk to the height of a small child. "She can't do anything for us here," He continued as she bowed her head with embarrassment and looked down. "She'll only continue to put her life at risk."

"Hey, shut up! How can you say things like that about your own teammate?" Naruto demanded accusingly. Kiba stood next to him and the expression on his face implied he would've said something similar had Naruto not beaten him to the punch.

"Perhaps it is me who should go?" Lee suggested. "Taijutsu is all I have! And unfortunately only Gai-sensei has found a way to be effective with Taijutsu against such an opponent!'

"Its fine, Naruto," a clear and stern feminine voice intervened from Sakura's mouth.

"No it's not…" Kiba disagreed with contempt, if there was anything Kiba valued above everything else it was camaraderie which is the whole reason he'd made an effort to befriend Naruto which had made progress over time.

Sakura's eyes shot up from the grass and stared coldly into Sasuke's. Ino was startled by it; she'd never seen this side of Sakura before. It was… pain masked by a diplomatic –although cold– demeanor. The look in her eyes delivered the unspoken resentment. "I'm doing it."

"Forget what I said earlier!" Naruto butted in. "You don't have to do this just because _he_ said so! I'll do it if no one else is going to stop this…"

"That's enough, Naruto." Surprisingly, she showed no sign of anger or rudeness that her comments towards the blonde normally held. She spared him a quick glance and astonishingly gave him a genuine smile. "I appreciate that you don't want anyone to walk on me… But I never said I was doing this for Sasuke," She stated before pausing much to everyone's confusion.

"I'm doing this for Kakashi-sensei!"

"But I have much more speed and stamina! Please, it should be me!" Lee insisted, feeling useless throughout much of the battle.

Sakura lifted Kakashi over her back and turned so she did not face her comrades. "All team seven does is fight." She did not say Ino, she did not say herself she said team seven. Ino stared at the back or Sakura's long pink hair and their wounded sensei without words.

"We drive Kakashi-sensei insane," She continued and Sasuke's expression softened ever so slightly.

"But I'll be damned if a member of team seven isn't the one to save him!" She declared passionately and took off without another word. Most of the Genin stared as the kunoichi's figure grew smaller and smaller as she ran each having their own thoughts about her short speech.

"We lack the means to set a worthwhile trap," Neji concocted, snapping everyone back into reality.

The brown haired kunoichi considered Neji's point and looked to Shikamaru. "Second opinion?"

The Nara lazily spared each Genin a thoughtful glance before turning his attention directly at Tenten. "We just might be able to…"

Neji raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

Shikamaru's eyes flickered to Ino and smirked. "I was just thinking about how the chakra constructs work autonomously; that guy doesn't control them he just has some kind of weird connection to them with those threads. Remember when I caught his arm with my Shadow and you killed it?"

Neji nodded. "Yes, that was one of the hearts just like the chakra constructs… what's your point?"

"What jumped out at me was that it was going to take Kakashi-sensei's heart but it was like the arm came to that conclusion all on its own. That Kakuzu guy would've sent it after his heart sooner, before we could get there… Which means they can think for themselves and they aren't under Kakuzu's direct control."

"But how in the world does that help us?" Naruto queried.

"Well I was thinking about the Inoanji Yamanaka mission…" He replied, drawing a frown from Ino and confused gestures from his fellow members of team six.

"Inoanji Yamanaka's jutsu enabled him to literally be all of his minions at the same time as him. He had full control of every body and action but this situation is the opposite. If the Akatsuki isn't directly controlling them, which is why I think we might be able to hijack one of them."

"Hijack?!" Kiba repeated.

"Yeah… Ino knows where I'm going with this."

Naruto's eyes darted back and forth from Shikamaru to Ino and understood. "Oh! You think she can use her mind transfer jutsu like Inoanji took over Kynx back then?" Shikamaru nodded.

"You sure that's a good idea? Sounds dangerous," Tenten asked, concerned.

Shikamaru shrugged. "That's all up to Ino; I'm not an expert on Yamanaka jutsu just from encountering them on one mission."

"I think we've been spotted," Neji announced, still staring directly through the boulder through his Byakugan.

Ino brushed her banes out of her eyesight. "I'll try it!"

"I do not understand, but I will do whatever I can to help!" Lee jumped in.

Sasuke, as Ino's teammate, was more familiar with Ino's jutsu than the others present stepped forward. "I'm assuming you need a diversion and plan to isolate it with your jutsu…?" He asked the Nara.

"That's the plan," He sighed.

"Which one do we want to take over?" Sasuke asked.

"Wind," he underlined. "…If she can control it… it will be easy to destroy the lightning construct."

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "I see… Naruto," the blond perked up at the sound of his name, though it was clear he was still mad at what Sasuke said to Sakura earlier. "You and I will be the diversion. Everyone else can keep the other one busy while Shikamaru and Ino look for their opening."

"Hey, who put you in charge?" Naruto said grinding his teeth.

"Naruto, just go with it!" Shikamaru ordered, hoping to defuse it quickly as everyone scattered to avoid a combined attack from both chakra constructs. Seeing the Genin divide into two groups, the chakra constructs split back into their separate forms and pursued.

Neji was studying the lightning construct's chakra flow meticulously using the convenience of his kekkei genkai to do so without actually turning to face their pursuer. "When we attack, aim for the mask."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Does it look like I have time to explain?" The Hyuga grumbled, reaching for weapons and then swerving his body around to launch his attack. Three kunai soared towards the mask with pinpoint accuracy but were dodged easily. Tenten, being a weapons expert had anticipated where the chakra construct would move to and already hurled a quartet of shuriken as a counter. The spiked tools each stuck into the mask, cracking it.

The lightning construct retorted by opening its mouth charging another jutsu and unleashing it on the Genin. "Scatter!" Neji ordered, seeing this coming before the mouth even opened.

"Hitting the mask didn't seem to do anything!" Kiba shouted over the noise.

"The shuriken didn't go deep enough," Neji explained.

The chakra construct casted another bolt of lightning at them, this time a far thinner, focused bolt that had power and precision as opposed to an area effective attack. Kiba and Lee, who were in the vicinity of the attack split, but barely avoided it. The impact charred through a tree behind the Inuzuka, who only noticed that he was about to get squashed because of the shadow in front of him. He rolled to the left before it impaled him. Akamaru gave a panicked yip, and he grunted in agreed displeasure. "Yeah I know, that was close…"

Lee in the meantime ducked undercover nearby Neji. "Darn it!" He complained. "I feel so useless today!"

"This battle isn't suited to your skills;" Neji concurred. "There is something you can try though."

Lee practically shrieked with excitement and leapt from out of his cover now that Neji had come up with something he could actually do. "YOSH! YOUR GENIUS IS AT ITS WORK I TAKE IT? PLEASE MY ETERNAL RIVAL… ENLIGHTEN MEEE!"

Neji stared at him, deadpanned. Then he recalled they were on a battlefield and sighed deeply before handing him an explosive tag. Lee raised one of his very bushy eyebrows at him. "Don't do anything foolish; if you find an opening to slap that on its mask… do it." Lee nodded in understanding.

"Of course!"

"I don't think that's going to work," Tenten warned them, landing to their right. "I just nailed it right in the mask with an explosive kunai and barely cracked it…"

Another colossal boom echoed through the battlefield as the chakra construct ripped through a couple trees which promptly fell into more trees creating a small domino effect. If that wasn't bad enough, flames and smoke had come to life, a side effect of nature taking its course with lightning. Not far from where that fire originated, the other Genin in their group was kneeling down and bit his thumb.

"We need to find uh… the 'other guy', and make sure he's all right!" Lee asserted, getting nods from his fellow team nine members.

Before the trio could move, the lightning construct was upon them. Neji cursed at himself for being late to react to its approach. The construct attempted to scorch them but at the last second something _very_ fast intervened. Lee was sent flying through the air in agony while Neji and Tenten felt someone grab a hold of them and rescue. When they came to a stop Neji and Tenten's eyes widened with relief. "Gai-sensei!?"

"Sorry Lee! Forgive me! I didn't have enough time to carry all three of you so I settled for saving you with my Taijutsu!" He stated shooting a thumbs up after releasing his other students.

Lee cried out some more in pain. "Did you have to kick me so hard?"

"I knew you could take it, Lee!"

"Sensei!" Tenten shouted and the three of them scattered to avoid being hit by the next lightning attack, Neji grabbed Lee before taking cover again.

"So, what's going on? Do you guys have a plan or not? I was forced to just sit tight and believe in you all for awhile because you were hiding from them… and then you guys split up into one team for each construct so I assume you've strategized." Gai prodded.

"We're buying them time sensei," Tenten answered. "They're going to try and control the other one with Yamanaka clan jutsu and use it against this one."

"In the meantime, I've analyzed the chakra flow and think we should target the mask to kill it if possible," Neji added.

Unexpectedly, before the chakra construct attacked yet again, a nest of snakes slithered out of the woodworks and moved spread out around the construct with killing intent in their eyes. "What the hell!?" Tenten gasped.

"You don't know the half of it…" Neji stated neutrally, eyeing a large tan snake approaching them with his Byakugan. Tenten and Lee were ready to fight but Gai a hand on their shoulders to stop them. The snake proceeded until it was right in front of them and vomited its passengers. The figure of Kiba and Akamaru covered in atrocious slime and some other nasty, gushy liquid left on the ground made Tenten want to puke herself. Kiba got up with a smirk plastered onto his face. "Thanks for the ride," he told the snake and Akamaru gave it a cheerful(?) bark. The snake nodded to the further confusion of team nine's Genin and dispelled with a hiss.

"All right… now that we're all assembled, let's do this!" Gai commanded with his usual enthusiasm.

* * *

Shikamaru, Ino, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves fleeing the wind construct aimlessly, each with their own idea of how they should retaliate but also each aware one slip probably would result in death.

"You ready _Sasuke_?" Naruto practically snarled, still irritated he had to work with _him_ after what he did. All he received in reply was a 'hn.' As this was happening Shikamaru was eying the senbon Naruto was tinkering with. The blonde attached the longest ninja wire he had on his person and the Nara was trying to figure out what the Uzumaki had in mind.

Sasuke felt his Sharingan activate and felt relief flow through his body as his greatest asset was finally available. He first awoken it during the mission in the Land of Waves, but he still wasn't fully capable of activating it at will, much to his annoyance. Immediately, he turned his head back and his Dojutsu alerted him it was building its chakra up once again. The Uchiha skidded to a halt, making multiple handsigns in the process.

The wind construct opened its mouth and unleashed another wind storm but Sasuke was all over it. "Fire style: Grand Fireball jutsu!" His lips opened up and poured heat out like a flamethrower, intercepting the attack. The wind easily overpowered the Uchiha's jutsu, naturally being far stronger than the Genin however when the air assaulted the Leaf ninja it felt far weaker than any of the previous attacks. Multiple cuts split open on Sasuke's face; he felt a stinging sensation throughout his body but ignored it. The top ninja of his class smirked. "My fire style isn't strong enough to compete with it even thought fire trumps wind…" He analyzed via his Sharingan. "But it's enough to weaken the effect of its attacks, which is what I was hoping."

Shikamaru grabbed Ino by the arm and moved forward. "Let's get out of the way and wait for our opportunity to come; this is their show."

Naruto made his signature handsign making eight shadow clones and the original sighed. _Looks like I'm getting low on chakra. But I can still do this!_ Three of his clones sprinted at the wind construct, fully aware they were committing suicide. The other five clones along with the original moved to surround their target, holding their prepared senbon in their right hands. "I hope you can keep doing that!" The original shouted at Sasuke who pretended to ignore him but was actually watching everything. Very closely. That's part of what the Sharingan did after all.

The three suicidal clones lashed out striking with their kunai and each dispelled after suffering a single hit from the overpowered chakra construct. By this time, all of the Naruto's were in position and Sasuke was waiting to determine where the wind construct's next blast would go. Each Naruto, the original included, threw their senbon simultaneously. The construct ignored them as each wired needle sailed off target; each Naruto caught the senbon thrown in their direction and suddenly it didn't seem like poor aim. The wind construct examined the situation, seeing it was caught in a web of wires as the Naruto's circled it, and the wires tangled around the construct's body.

 _Now!_ Sasuke shouted inwardly, going through his handsigns half a second before the wind construct charged a jutsu. As he went through his signs, his legs transported him to the direction he anticipated the attack to be launched towards. Before the construct attacked, Sasuke released another Grand Fireball. This time he wasn't able to put the same amount of power into his jutsu, but a quicker interception helped make up for it as the wind construct's attack still pushed right through his, and he felt his body slit open in a multitude of spots again. His clothes visibly rippled and he was happy he guarded his precious eyes when he felt a huge cut open up on his hand.

The six Naruto's had circled it to the point they no longer had wire and just stood there, holding their senbon needle's tight, trying to prevent their squirming prey from getting loose. "Are you waiting for an invitation or something Shikamaru!?" Naruto shouted annoyed.

The lazy ninja sprinted towards them, ignoring the sarcasm. The Uchiha moved to get between the construct and the Nara, prepared to use his strongest fire jutsu one last time. "Just hold him still, idiots," He answered for Shikamaru, addressing the shadow clones as well.

Predictably, the wind construct retaliated with yet another powerful wind jutsu, and was met with an Uchiha's fireball once more. Sasuke dropped on one knee, feeling the older cuts deepen and bleed, and fresh ones make their presence known as he tried to hide the pain, not fully able to. Shikamaru ran past him, setting himself in range and made his trademark handsign, manipulating his shadow to capture their apprehended foe. "Shadow possession jutsu, complete."

The Naruto's all sighed in relief, the clones dispelling and the original releasing his grip on the wired senbon. He wiped his forehead clean and smirked at his teammates. "Ino, it's all yours."

The kunoichi jogged over to them and brushed her banes out of the way again with a serious and perhaps nervous expression. "Right… let's hope this works!"

* * *

An exhausted Gai Maito found himself face in the dirt after being tackled by his own pupil. The lightning bolts soared over their heads threateningly. Lee raced back onto his feet. "Come, Gai-sensei!" Gai tried to move but found he couldn't.

"What is the matter? It's going to attack us again!" Lee panicked. Not far away, Kiba could be seen rolling out of the way of the latest attack, and a volley of kunai being sprayed from the trees courtesy of either Tenten or Neji.

"I can't budge a muscle Lee… it's the eight inner gates! I'm spent completely!" Lee stared at the serious gaze of his teacher with the widest eyes ever seen and picked his mentor up who cried out in agony as he did so.

"Then I must take you somewhere more safe!" He proclaimed, sprinting away from the construct.

"AAAUGH!" Tenten screamed her tree collapsed to the ground and she twisted her ankle on an awkward landing, dropping on one knee painfully.

The lightning construct's mask took interest in her weakened state immediately. Before it could attack however, a pair of Kiba's came to the rescue. One got in between her and the construct, and the other picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, sprinting away. The Kiba left behind was promptly electrocuted before revealing it was nothing but a log. The confused chakra construct was about to go after the other Kiba carrying Tenten but a hooded ninja dove from out of the trees tossing his last barrage of explosive kunai at it. "Looking for somebody?" Kiba snarled before his weapons exploded.

The other Kiba rested Tenten on a tree elsewhere in a relatively safe spot. "Thanks! That was an awesome substitution back there; I don't know how you even did that!" Kiba looked at her confused and then transformed into a puppy, revealing to only be Akamaru. Suddenly… everything made a lot more sense.

 _That's right let them get away!_ Kiba silently demanded, retreating by running backwards, leaping occasionally based on how he felt the terrain. The construct's full attention was on the Inuzuka, who accidently jumped backwards into a tree which sent a pain through his spine. _Damn it!_ He scolded himself, thinking quickly shooting a snake out of his sleeve straight up. The snake wrapped around a sturdy branch and elevated him as a lightning bolt charred right through the tree. When he was upon the branch the snake retracted fully and he leapt to a branch on another tree before that one could timber completely and made a tactical retreat, in pursuit by the construct yet again.

 _That's right, this way…_ He thought to himself, luring the construct into Neji's trap. The two of them had a little surprise planned out to hopefully kill the damn thing. While Kiba was busy getting its attention and distracting it for awhile, Neji was setting up the trap from hell. Once Kiba reached the place and passed it by, Neji cut the wire. The wire he cut set a ton of explosive tags he got from Tenten at the bottom of four separate trees to begin their detonation process. Simultaneously, it triggered the release of explosive kunai (also form Tenten's ridiculous supply) spraying it from six different angles. Neji and Kiba got the hell out of the blast radius as after all the kunai blew up, the paper bombs on each of the trees exploded bringing the full force of four humongous trees down on the chakra construct.

"Got em'! There's no way in hell it survived _that!_ " Kiba cheered but Neji shook his head.

"It's alive…!" He told him disbelieving what he knew to be true because of his Byakugan. If anyone other than Neji told him that, Kiba would've argued but clearly that would be futile when talking to someone with that particular kekkei genkai.

Lightning burst through the would-be grave and sure enough the construct arose in fine condition, though not perfect. "You've got to be joking…" Kiba muttered.

"It would appear fate has decided this is our time to die," Neji stated bitterly.

As if on cue, the lightning construct was impaled by a massive wind jutsu that cracked its mask repeatedly, much like the wounds Sasuke suffered before, until the mask shattered completely and the strange dark body of the construct seemed to melt away onto the fallen landscape. The two seemingly doomed Genin flashed smiles (which seemed bizarre for Neji) at the sight of everyone else arriving on the scene, with the wind chakra construct under their control…

"All right! I knew you guys would pull through!" Kiba cheered gratefully. "What was that crap you just said about fate, Hyuga?"

Neji's faint smile vanished. "I misjudged fate; that does not change that fate decided the outcome of our predicament."

"Shadow possession jutsu!" Shikamaru shouted, paralyzing the construct. "Okay Ino, switch back now. Everyone else… destroy this thing!"

* * *

"What is it?" The voice demanded, coming from the Rinnegan

"I highly recommend you order Kakuzu to retreat before he gets himself killed. He's already forced me to agreeing not to interfere," The sharkman suggested.

"It's that bad?" Pein inquired, surprised to hear Kakuzu was in trouble with his special abilities.

"Indeed. Kakuzu lost his spare hearts, all of them… he's going against mostly Genin now but a Leaf Jonin still remains who's gone head to toe with him for quite sometime now. The Genin aren't slouches themselves I might add, along with one of their injured Jonin they were able to take down two of his chakra constructs." Kisame paused to sigh. "Right now he's surrounded by everyone that's still capable of fighting."

"I understand… I am interested in the details of this fight, and I expect to hear from you both soon. I'll contact Kakuzu immediately."

Kisame merely nodded and his hologram vanished.

 _A few Jonin and their Genin teams managing to bring Kakuzu down to a single heart? Impressive._ Pein mused.

* * *

 _Withdraw immediately._ A familiar, commanding voice rang through the Akatsuki's bounty specialist's ears. Kakuzu was not happy in the least, this had been a very bad day for him… and it had so much promise to it when he found himself facing three Jonin all found in the bingo book. "Kisame, where are you?"

The shark-like man used the body flicker technique to faze in at his side. "It would appear Leader needs us elsewhere."

Kakuzu nodded irritably. "As much as I would prefer to stay, business comes before pleasure," he announced, his eyes scanning over all his battle-ready opponents. "Let's go." The two bodies fazed out of view using the same technique Kisame used to be at his side in the first place.

Anko sighed in relief, whereas Naruto looked around angrily. "Damn it! Which way did they go Kiba? We have to stop them!"

Anko eyed him sternly. "Fuck no we're not! Fighting Kakuzu drained my chakra to its limits! You're all Genin, Kakashi is wounded and Gai… where the hell is Gai?" She realized.

"Gai-sensei is unable to move from exhaustion," Neji curtly supplied, drawing another sigh of relief from Anko.

"How can we just let them get away after all that!?" Naruto argued, fists clenched.

"Our mission wasn't to fight the Akatsuki, it's just how it happened…" Anko replied. "You realize, all of that was against just _one_ of them, the other's chakra reserves are full basically. You guys aren't ready for a battle of that magnitude, it's a miracle none of you are severally injured or dead." She observed each of the Genin and their condition thoughtfully. "Take me to Gai, and let's get back to the Leaf ASAP… we need to catch up to Sakura!"

* * *

 _A few days ago_

 _"_ Lady Tsunade!"

The Sannin grunted and sat her sake down with a little more force than necessary. "What is it Shizune?" She grumbled, clearly in a bad mood after another day's losses.

"I think you might want to have a look at this…" The younger woman replied, handing her a playing card.

Tsunade drunkenly looked it over recognizing it was the ace of spades. "So what?"

Shizune made a gesture for her to turn the card over and she did. On the other side, a handwritten message awaited her.

 _'Undercover mission, been ordered to kill you. Do me this favor and lure us to the Hidden Leaf my dear… I'll call it even.'_

Tsunade scowled visibly. "Orochi-fucking-maru!" She shouted punching the wooden table so hard it snapped in half and spilt all of her sake, pissing herself off even further. "DAMN IT!"

"Ooiink!" Ton Ton squealed and Shizune stared at her best friend fearfully. "Uhh… Lady Tsunade?"

Tsunade sighed sharply. "Pack your things as fast as you can… and don't forget to empty the liquor cabinet this time!"

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune objected. "We're in a hotel! Just because its offered doesn't mean it all belongs to us when we only stayed a few-"She silenced herself at the sight of the Sannin's legendary glare, daring her to defy that order.

* * *

 _Present_

The Hidden Leaf gates were in sight now.

"Um... Lady Tsunade?" Shizune piqued.

"Yes?" the hungover Sannin grunted.

"Well I was wondering… uh I mean I'm happy we're here but why did you agree to do it? You've always been adamant about not coming back ever since I can remember. You and Orochimaru don't have to be in the Hidden Leaf village to find a way out of the situation!"

Tsunade stopped and eyed her thoughtfully. "Well for one thing, we know almost _nothing_ about the situation so Orochimaru is the one who should be controlling our moves… we haven't had a chance to communicate with him at all yet. So I think it's wise to let him play the cards he wants to…" She trailed off thinking about the ace of spades his tiny message was delivered on.

"Oh yeah… that's another thing I've been wondering. How do you know the message was from Orochimaru? The person did not leave their name or any clues that I could see."

Tsunade sighed. "That's… a story for another time. Let's just say he didn't choose the ace of spades as the card by accident or pick it at random."

Shizune grinned tauntingly at her companion. "How much did you lose?"

"Shut it Shizune," The Sannin warned. Tsunade did _not_ like remembering that night… it was the night before Dan passed. She was making an effort to make Orochimaru more personable at the time. She felt that he was perfect for war but when returning to the village he seemed less and less normal to those who weren't used to him as time passed on. She even tried to convince him to take on a Genin team but he wasn't very interested at the time.

Shizune backed off just a little but continued to smirk. "I bet it was a lot; I'm a little shocked he gambled with you though considering you always made him sound like he was one of the most anti-social human beings on the planet."

"He was; it's not that he was necessarily rude or quiet all the time he simply didn't allow people to get very close to him, but I suppose people do change. Then again, if he's on a huge undercover mission my guess is he's exactly how he was last I saw him," she mused.

They were greeted warmly by a pair of Chunin as they finally reached the gate, one with spiky hair that was free to branch out in every direction wearing the usual Chunin flak jacket attire and a bandage that horizontally ran across his nose and a black chin strap. His partner wore the same uniform, except the top of his hair was restrained by skintight cap and spiked downward covering his right eye and also wore a chinstrap. "Please state your identities ladies," the one with the bandage requested in a flirtatious voice. His teammate rolled his eyes and while Shizune appeared flattered Tsunade wasn't amused at all.

"I know I've been gone for a long time but shouldn't you people recognize me!" She ranted with a terrifying demeanor and a glare that would incinerate the Fire Daimyo's wife's cat and reduce it to seven lives. (Why seven and not eight? Well…let's just say Sakura got _really_ upset a few months ago)

Kotetsu scratched the back of his hair awkwardly. "Um sorry miss but well… No?"

The Sannin's eyes narrowed on him for a moment and he felt more scared than he had on his last A-rank mission. And that mission went terribly wrong, mind you. She finally gave up and sighed sparing the two poor Chunin. "Tsunade Senju, Sannin, Formally of your own village."

The younger woman smiled. "Shizune Kato, formally I've never attained a rank but Lady Tsunade thinks I have Jonin ability without the experience to actually deserve the rank."

The two Chunin shared a glance and nodded. In an instant the Chunin duo wrapped the Sannin in chains and Shizune had her trademark expression she always slipped into and freaked out when she knew Tsunade was probably going to hurt somebody. "Who are you people?" Izumo demanded, a kunai in his head ready to throw at Shizune.

"Any competent ninja would know Tsunade Senju is _a lot_ older than the appearance you've taken," Kotetsu explained as if they were dealing with an idiot. The friendliness was very much gone; they were convinced Tsunade and Shizune were trying to infiltrate the village… and pretty bad at it too.

"Did you just make fun of my _age!?"_ She growled ready to break out of the chains and created a giant dent in Kotetsu's bandaged face.

"Lady Tsunade! Don't fight back it'll only make matters worse!"

"Give it up already you fools; we know she's not the old lady," Izumo spat.

"Grrr call me that _one_ more time I swear I'll-"

"Lady Tsunade!"

"What!?"

"I know you don't want to… but if you drop the Genjutsu they might believe us you know!"

"Genjutsu?" Izumo stated eyes wide. "Release!" Kotetsu stated ahead of him.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "They just promote any idiot that applies to the academy nowadays."

"What the hell? Was she just making that up?" Kotetsu wondered aloud.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Maybe these two are more dangerous than we originally thought Izumo…"

The ladies groaned as this just kept snowballing into a worse and worse situation. "I am going to kill Orochimaru for this!" Tsunade decided, fed up.

"Orochimaru? So that's who you work for! Now we're getting somewhere!" Kotetsu stated.

Tsunade and Shizune simply facepalmed at that point.

* * *

Sakura Haruno flinched slightly at the sound of an unconscious Jonin coughing loudly in his sleep. _Hang in there Kakashi-sensei…_ _You're so heavy… No no!_ Sakura berated herself. _I have to be strong! If he doesn't make it Sasuke's going to blame me for it!_ A growl escaped her lips as she leapt off another branch. _Why should I even care what Sasuke thinks?_

 _"I think the least useful person here should be the one to do it," Sasuke had suggested._

 _"Hey, I know what you're about to say and you can forget it! I'm not the dead last anymore! And I won't leave my sensei and teammates behind when we're up against this! Forget it!" Naruto exploded._

 _Sasuke eyed him carefully. "I actually wasn't referring to you…" He stated, shifting his gaze to Sakura. "I was talking about her."_

"I can't believe he humiliated me like that!" _So that's how he thinks of me then; I'm the most useless ninja from our class. "_ Why is he such an asshole?" She asked herself, closing her eyes as tears threatened to release. _Get it together!_ Inner-Sakura demanded.

Sakura's eyes shot open with never seen before determination. "I know you can't hear me Kakashi-sensei, but keep fighting that wound! I'm going to get you back to the village and everything's going to be okay! Screw Sasuke! I'm doing this for you!" She declared and picked up the pace. _I can't take any breaks! I have to get there as fast as humanly possible!_

* * *

A flock of crows retreated frantically as their home was disturbed by the fast paced movement of ninja leaping branch to branch. Anko of course lead the way, if only slightly. Lee and Neji lagged a bit behind the rest of the ninja because they were stuck performing the tedious job of carrying their injured teammates. At this point, Gai could not possibly jump repeatedly or run very far no matter how much he willed his body to. The inner gates took their toll and now it hurt to just be _carried_ by his student. Of course, Lee was getting on everyone's nerves by constantly apologizing to Gai every time the Jonin couldn't suppress a slight cry of pain.

"Kiba."

"Sorry sensei but her scent isn't getting much stronger yet, we're still well behind."

"Really?" Anko asked with surprise. "She's carrying Kakashi though… she can't be moving that fast we should've already caught up to her by now."

"I don't know Anko-sensei…" Naruto interjected. "I've watched Sakura a lot over the years and that expression she had after she told Sasuke off… I've never seen it before. She was so determined!" He explained sounding proud. Normally, either Anko or his teammates would've jumped at the chance to make fun of his poor choice of words when he said 'I've watched Sakura a lot over the years' but no one was in the mood after everything that happened.

"Guys, stop!" Ino called out in mid air and everyone drew to a halt on a branch and stared at her questioning.

"I've got to try something… it's a telepathic jutsu my clan knows but I'm not very good at it…" She trailed off.

"You want to try and alert the Hidden Leaf so they can send a team to reach Kakashi and get him back as quick as possible?" Anko presumed.

Ino nodded. "One of you has to stay with me… it's not dangerous or anything but I could pass out from mental strain."

"All right, so who's stay-"Anko didn't even finish the question as Shikamaru dropped himself to the ground and slumped up against a tree.

"Lazy bastard," she muttered. "Let's get moving then the rest of you!" She ordered and took off, Kiba and the members of team nine behind her.

"Good luck Ino!" Naruto offered and took off as well.

"So… think he did that just so he could take a break and watch clouds or some shit? Or was it an excuse to be alone with Ino?" Kiba prompted when Naruto caught up and was beside him.

Naruto laughed. "I'm not sure to be honest. If he's interested in her he doesn't really show it."

"But they've been hanging out together a lot lately," Kiba resonated.

"Amusing as I tend to find it… not now. We've got to focus to keep this pace!" Anko chided them.

"Right, sorry sensei!" The Genin apologized.

"Then again… I suppose we can't keep a great pace anyway," The Jonin admitted softly, remembering Gai and sighed.

* * *

 _Lord Hokage? Lord third?_

Hiruzen dropped his pipe after being startled. _Can you hear me Lord Hokage? This is Ino Yamanaka and it's extremely urgent!_

"Yes, I can hear you Ino." Multiple ANBU stared at the Hokage in confusion.

 _Okay good!_ She replied audibly panting from the difficulty she was having with the jutsu as a beginner. _Kakashi-sensei is badly wounded and needs to be given care ASAP! I don't know if he even has a chance by now!_ Hiruzen was under the impression she was fighting back tears now. _We encountered a couple rogue ninja who Anko kept calling Akatsuki or something and one of them put a whole right through Kakashi's body! Sakura rushed back towards the village before the fighting was over and we're trying to catch up but it would be better if you sent someone out to retrieve him and get him back quicker than we can!_

"I understand…" he stated calmly as possible, trying to take in what he was hearing without freaking out just a little. _Akatsuki!?_

 _All of teams seven, six and nine are banged up… I-I can't maintain the link Lord Hokage! I'm sorry I have to-_

Silence. She lost the mental connection… but her 'call' served its purpose. Sarutobi looked at the confused ANBU team around him. "Yugao," He stated forgetting to use her codename in his haste. He pulled a map out and pointed to an area on it and created an imaginary circle with his finger. "Kakashi Hatake is mortally wounded and must be brought here as quickly as possible. He is currently being escorted by Anko Mitarashi, Gai Maito and three injured Genin squads. As long as he's the only one whose life is in danger you are to find them, take him and return immediately the others can travel at their own pace. Find Hayate before you depart in case a second person needs desperate attention! Go!" The masked ANBU with long purple hair nodded and surprisingly opted to just leap out the window to save time, apparently fully aware of where Hayate was currently occupied.

 _I need to talk with Anko…_

"Lord Hokage," Another ANBU greeted, entering the room just after.

"What is it?"

"Izumo and Kotetsu apprehended two women suspected of trying to infiltrate the village under the false identities of Tsunade Senju and Shizune Kato," the boar masked man reported.

The Hokage sighed. Today was just full of unwanted surprises.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Ino."

 _Urgh…_ Everything felt like it was spinning. She was _so_ dizzy… And just like that Ino returned to her slumber.

Shikamaru sighed. "Great, I can't get her to snap out of it." He reluctantly sat beside his friend and slipped her arm around his neck to help support her as he stood both of them up. Then, he allowed the arm to fall limp and bent down to swoop her legs and carry her bridal style.

"What a drag."

* * *

Sarutobi was on his way to the cellblock the suspects Izumo and Kotetsu captured were but his mind was elsewhere completely. _Akatsuki deep into the land of fire… But she didn't say who. Perhaps young Ino didn't know who they were because they didn't reveal their identities or she simply didn't think it was important in the limited time she had to communicate. It couldn't have been Orochimaru and Itachi, Sasuke would have gone berserk if his older brother were present._

According to Orochimaru's intel, Itachi and Pein had an agreement that prohibited all Akatsuki members from coming to the Hidden Leaf village without him present and that was supposed to mean his partner only, conveniently being Orochimaru. Of course, this wasn't the village; it was simply into the Land of Fire… But what purpose would the Akatsuki have attacking a retired Leaf ninja? The Hokage considered, recalling the original mission they had been assigned early that morning.

"Damn it," he cursed. _Of course, one of the Akatsuki teams decided to collect on his bounty. Orochimaru said they were gathering a massive amount of ryo through bounty hunting when he left the scroll behind after his battle with Jiraiya. I can't believe I dragged a bunch of Genin into this!_

"This is the room, Lord Hokage," One of Ibiki Morino's apprentices directed him.

The Hokage nodded. "Thank you." _I'll have to wait for Anko to get back before I can unravel this dilemma any further._

 _Holy shit._ Was all Sarutobi could think when he saw them. "Tsunade…"

"Yes that's right it's really me old man! Now get us the hell out of here!"

Hiruzen sighed. "I see you weren't kidding about your idea of using a Genjutsu to conceal your age for the rest of your life. I can see why my men were suspicious."

A vein bulged out of Tsunade's head. " _Watch it_ old man, age jokes are definitely not water you should be treading on," she sternly warned but he merely chuckled.

"Well you haven't changed much overall at least. But Shizune! You've grown up to become a fine looking young lady," He complimented sincerely.

"Thank you!" She replied with a slight blush at the praise.

"And you just see me as a 'fine old lady' I take it?"

"Cut that out Lady Tsunade! You're just trying to fight!"

Ignoring her she moved onto another 'problem.' "Where's Jiraiya? Is he going to come in and perv on her as well?"

" _Lady Tsunade!"_ She shouted, embarrassed at the shot she took at the Hokage over her.

But in that moment Sarutobi realized something. Kakashi was suffering from an injury he had little chance of surviving from the way Ino made it sound… and Tsunade was back…

 ** _A/N:_** **Annnd CUT. Okay so yes Tsunade returning to the village the same time that Kakashi receives an injury of this magnitude is quite 'convenient' however Tsunade was coming back to the village either way it's how my Orochimaru/Itachi plot was to roll out and I have a specific reason for why he'd send her there. It's probably really easy to figure out actually, you just have to remember Orochi is a master manipulator and Itachi is no joke in that field either though he isn't the one to organize this particular move.**

 **Anyhow, arguments that Kakashi wouldn't have made it in time? Uh don't forget they were only hours away not days and in canon Neji also had a hole through his body that didn't get tended to for multiple hours I'm sure though determining how many is kind of impossible merely by re-watching the Sound Four arc. Bottom line, as long as no vitals were struck I believe Tsunade is powerful enough to save the victim.**

 **I hope everyone enjoyed these last few chapters there won't be much action for the next several. I can slow the story down now that I've made it to this point, I've intentionally rushed it just a little bit these first 14 chapters. This story isn't about the pre-Chunin exams, I needed to get through these parts of the story in the fewest chapters I could without writing enormous lengths lol or simply brushing them off as something a character told the others about or whatever. Why didn't I include more KakuzuVAnko throughout this? Because we've had lots of that already and very little Genin action… so I tilted the attention the other way.**

 **Shizune does not seem to have a last name given by the writers of Naruto… so I gave her the same one her uncle had figuring there's a 50% chance her father was Dan's brother which in all likelihood means last name is the same. But it could have been her father's brother in-law… which changes everything and makes life more confusing! So rather than make up a name she's Shizune Kato**

 **Guess that's all r n' r please ;)**


	15. For the Good of the Leaf

**Chapter 15:** ** _For the Good of the Leaf_**

 ** _A/N:_** **Surprise surprise! A flashback chapter :D This wouldn't be Naruto without flashbacks now would it? Lol Seriously though, I've got to show how much different certain events with Danzo and the foundation went and Orochimaru's involvement in numerous areas and also there's the matter of "What happened to Kabuto?" In this very different world compared to canon. Also, you may have wondered about Tenzo and whether or not he has wood style… who won't be called Tenzo in this story even though that is my preferred name for him. I can't give him that name with the different circumstances lol.**

 **Anyhow, that's what this chapter is for… to touch on a lot of things that are just floating about from the past. On a side note: Killer B is not yet a Jinchuriki, because Orochimaru wasn't in the Hidden Cloud and didn't get the previous Jinchuriki (can't remember his name atm) killed. That's not something I wanted to spend time implementing into the chapter, so I thought I'd just throw that piece of information out there. No clue how I would've implemented it had I chose to anyway lol.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Little Minato?" Orochimaru gasped in disbelief. "I see…"

"I am aware of your desire to obtain the position, and it was I who endorsed your name before the Daimyo… So I felt obliged to let you know before the rest of the village find out in a public ceremony later on this afternoon. You have my sincere apologies." Danzo politely filled the Sannin in. Orochimaru nodded in acceptance and the bandaged village council member left him in solitude. Unbeknownst to Orochimaru, Danzo was smirking victoriously. This was perfect! He would use this let-down and betrayal by Orochimaru's own sensei to his advantage and turn the Sannin into his right hand…

Orochimaru returned to walking the way he was previously thinking bitterly about his sensei's decision.

Why?

That was all he could think. Why didn't Sarutobi-sensei _trust_ him? The Sannin did not resent Minato Namikaze, by all means the 'boy' was worthy of the title, and had proven himself through extraordinary feats during the third shinobi war. The Hidden Leaf's Yellow Flash did not become a famous ninja that was now one of the most feared in the shinobi world by being a weak or incompetent fool. No, it wasn't the choice that grinded into Orochimaru's heart… Rather, it was the third Hokage, his own sensei… didn't envision him as the next great Hokage.

 _I am one of the finest ninja of the Hidden Leaf… no.. the world! I know more jutsu than anyone in the village! I'm a genius with Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu, manipulative and strategic prowess, an expert at infiltration, highly knowledgeable in poisons and biology, very capable with Genjutsu though it is not my preference, probably the number one shinobi in the entire world in the art of summoning! I'm more experienced in battle than most; I'm the strongest of the Legendary Sannin! I've worked close with the Hokage my entire career as a shinobi since I was on HIS Genin team… exposing me to leadership at a younger age than the average shinobi, another area I have PROVEN to be exceptional! I was a key figure in two wars… WHY DOESN'T HE TRUST ME?_ The Sannin inwardly exploded, no one would think anything of it however, as he passed by other ninja and civilians with no hint of anger across his face. Not even the slightest irritation.

Later that day, Minato Namikaze received the honor of becoming the fourth… Orochimaru made a brief appearance during the ceremony, but no one thought anything of his insistence that he had matters to take care of with the exception of Anko… Who knew Orochimaru was actually taking a _forced_ three week vacation.

* * *

Orochimaru sighed as his slit pupils were exposed to the features of his lab, hearing the sound of someone knocking on his door. He must have fallen asleep in his chair while working late, again. He glanced at the clock. _Two-thirty in the morning?_ He stood up and fixed his hair which he could feel was out of place and strolled over to the doors. Opening them, he was mildly surprised to see a pair of ANBU. The Sannin's weary eyes narrowed on the two of them. _Few people know about this lab…_ This wasn't one of the typical Leaf buildings he was working in; this was _his_ own personal lab setup just outside the village. Sensei approved of his request to have his own workplace of which he had 24/7 access and was free to do as he pleased; sensei also granted him a rather generous amount of funding for his practices. The only people who ever came here were messengers searching trying to summon him to the Third Hokage (Minato hasn't bothered him because his vacation was still in effect) along with his former Genin pupils, which would usually be Anko.

"Lord Danzo has requested your presence, Orochimaru." A Bull masked ANBU notified and without even awaiting a response, they dispersed.

Orochimaru's eye twitched with annoyance. "Sounds more like a demand to me…" He analyzed, seeing how quick they were to run off. _So Danzo knows about this lab, perhaps sensei had to get it approved by the council._ The Sannin considered.

 _I could brush him off, he is my equal not my superior._ Orochimaru pondered. _But then I wouldn't find out what he's up to and why my involvement is needed at this hour…_ Curiosity winning the Snake Sannin over, he locked his lab up and set off to ROOT's headquarters.

* * *

Orochimaru heard the door shut behind him as the ROOT ANBU left him and Danzo alone. "You accepted my invitation, excellent."

An amused smirk crossed the Sannin's lips. "Whatever double meaning is behind that sentence, I am not interested."

"No need to be hasty Orochimaru… You haven't even heard what I have to say yet."

Orochimaru snorted, but his smirk held itself together. "I am all too familiar with how you conduct business Danzo… You neglect that I have worked close to the _third Hokage_ for so long."

Danzo finally turned to face his guest, with a twinkle in his visible eye. "I'm glad you brought that up… He's exactly what I wanted to chat with you about."

"Lord third?" He stated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Danzo confirmed. "I believe that your close ties with him and confidence in his abilities have clouded your judgment. He has made decisions that are _not_ keeping the village's best interest in line!" He stated harshly but Orochimaru merely chuckled.

"What are you going to do? He's already passed the role of Hokage onto his successor. Don't waste my time in this manner," The Sannin chided, but the twinkle returned in Danzo's eye. This was what he was trying to do all along, allow Orochimaru to spin the conversation towards his targeted conversation all on his own.

"His successor is a perfect example of his mistakes! I nominated you because you're like me," he revealed, causing Orochimaru's smirk to dissipate and stare at Danzo with an expression that could be considered a warning. It was no secret that the Legendary Three disliked the village elders apart from their sensei.

"I knew that if you became Hokage, you would do _whatever it takes._ Hiruzen is an excellent shinobi as well as a teacher, but he is a _weak_ leader who allows his emotions to hold us back. People like you and I… We do what must be done! _For the good of the Leaf village!_ No matter the consequence, no matter how it may seem morally. If it benefits the village it must be done. Hiruzen did not do that… and his successor will be exactly the same."

Orochimaru didn't like where this was going.

"The fourth Hokage is a puppet," Danzo stated boldly, allowing Orochimaru to uncharacteristically gape at him.

"Hiruzen will use him to keep his ideals and philosophy firmly in control. This is why you were not chosen, Orochimaru. He believed you would approve of some of my ideas, ones he worked very hard to prevent me from acting on."

"Absurd, sensei would never do something like that-"

"Hiruzen will do whatever it takes… as long as there is no bloodshed. If he believes Minato being Hokage as opposed to you suppresses my power… then Minato was the logical choice for him."

Orochimaru glared at the elder. "In other words, you're the reason why I wasn't chosen to become Hokage."

"No," he denied. "Hiruzen see's you the same way he see's me. Our nature is colder than his, more violent and less attached than him… You know this is true; that makes us his political enemies!"

The Sannin could not deny that Danzo's points were not preposterous. Okay, perhaps suggesting he only chose Minato was to protect his own ideals was a little far out there, that was not something that sounded like the third. On the other hand, everything else Danzo said was basically true… outside of his speculation as to how Sarutobi viewed his former pupil. "You didn't bring me here just to tell me all that, what is it you want?"

"To form a partnership… You and I are on the same side Orochimaru! We are out to protect and benefit the Leaf village and go to lengths the rest of the village are too afraid or emotional to do. Together, we can do just that… with… or without Hiruzen and the fourth Hokage's approval."

"Tch. I have no interest in becoming an emotionless ROOT ANBU that would happily kill himself if you told him it would benefit the village," he sarcastically answered but Danzo shook his head.

"Not as ANBU, as my right hand… and head scientist."

He raised an eyebrow again. "The foundation has been conducting experiments?"

Danzo chuckled darkly. "Would you believe me if I told you the foundation is studying to one day hopefully attempt a revival of the extinct kekkei genkai famously known as… 'Wood Style'?"

* * *

The elders of the orphanage were absolutely appalled. The men before them were cold, heartless bastards. Sitting across from them at the table were three Leaf shinobi wearing black hooded cloaks. In the middle was Danzo Shimura, a masked ANBU sitting to his left, and to his right was a very pale, freaky man with strange slits for pupils and purple markings along the sides of his nose calling himself Orochimaru.

"I'm afraid my lady is the best suited for this task and we will not take no for an answer!" Danzo exclaimed.

"If you refuse, the orphanage will see its funding cut off, and trust us… we can make that happen," the ANBU added threateningly.

Orochimaru smirked, peering into their pathetic frightened eyes. "That is not all; we'll also be needing one of the children. I believe I've met a young fellow by the name of Kabuto before…" He prompted deviously. The orphanage elders fought and pleaded with them as long as they could, but in the end the foundation won.

Orochimaru personally saw to Kabuto's basic training before he was sent out in the field as a spy. The bookworm learned mostly infiltration tactics but the Sannin also introduced him to the art of manipulation. As a bonus, he decided to teach Kabuto the Facial Copy jutsu… believing it would indeed come in handy for the young spy someday.

* * *

"Orochimaru-sensei!" A familiar female voice shouted and the Sannin stopped in the middle of the street, turning his head back as he realized two people to running to catch up to him.

"Anko, Tokuro.." He greeted with a slight smile.

"Been awhile sensei," Tokuro greeted.

"Indeed it has… Sometimes I forget Anko wasn't my only student," he joked.

Tokuro snorted in annoyance but kept his thoughts to himself. In truth, he didn't want to deal with his former mentor, and if he hadn't been with Anko there's no way he would've bothered to approach. He was just a tad bit shorter than Anko, with white eyes, a pony tail and a purple outfit that his clan found very distasteful. "So," Orochimaru began, as the three started walking again. "How's my little Hyuga doing then?"

Tokuro cringed at the question and reddened with embarrassment as Anko laughed at him shamelessly. "I'm a Chunin you know; I'm hardly your 'little Hyuga' now."

"Touchy are we? Well if there's something either of you need… now's the time. I have matters that need to be tended to," he told them, adjusting his headband upon realizing it was out of place.

"Aw c'mon sensei… sit down and have a drink with us!" Anko requested with a cheerful smile.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Anko… I have seen you drink alcohol enough times to know I can't have 'a' drink with you, because you treat a regular glass like a shot." Now it was Tokuro's turn to laugh at his teammate, though for the most part he kept it quiet and composed being a typical Hyuga.

"Shut up Toke," Tokuro did just that, as he hated being called a nickname that was a drug reference. "I hold my alcohol just fine!" She declared.

"Hn."

"Oh you want to be that way sensei? Is that a challenge?" She smirked. "Bring it!"

Orochimaru sighed. "I suppose it's been a long time since I sat down and spent time with more than one of my old Genin team for a social call hasn't it?"

"Not taking 'no' for an answer," Anko warned, the smirk holding up.

* * *

The volume of cheers coming from the bar turned heads of civilians in the streets, many of the very curious as to what was going on. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't enter to find out (or participate) because it was a shinobi bar. It was against the law for civilians to enter shinobi bars' because if a shinobi was drunken out of his or her mind innocents could die in a careless bar-fight between a pair of young Chunin that couldn't hold their liquor still. It was uncommon, but the law existed for a reason; Lord second had not wished for history to repeat itself on the matter and it stood for decades.

The law however, didn't kill the curiosity wrenching people's hearts as the cheers calmed before erupting even louder than they had the minute before. Those damn shinobi…

Inside, Anko slammed her glass down and licked her lips Orochimaru style. She had just downed her fifth straight and wasn't showing signs of wanting to puke just yet. Tokuro rolled his eyes at her finding the traits she picked up from sensei very annoying. Out of the three Genin members of Team Orochimaru, only Anko truly emulated their sensei whereas the other two found him too strange… and creepy to do that. Anko however, was strange and creepy so she slowly turned into an Orochimaru-lite.

The Sannin chuckled. He too had downed five glasses, and he surprisingly wasn't drunk yet. No one ever saw Orochimaru at the bar… well not since Tsunade abandoned the village that is. It was rumored that he occasionally drank with Jiraiya in private occasionally but not a single ninja in the bar was expecting him to drink so much without being affected. A Chunin filled his glass up and he picked it up slowly and pressed it up to his lips delicately. Unlike Anko, he was maintaining simple mannerisms but he downed it all the same and he set it down carefully. "Six, care to give up Anko?" His voice wasn't even slurring.

"Ha! You're just suggesting that because you're getting pushed to your limit! You do a fine job of masking it sensei, but I know you well enough to know you can hide just about anything."

The Chunin filled her glass up and she hastily snatched it away and downed it, slamming it on the table loudly again. " _Seven!"_ She declared and Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.

"Six," Tokuro corrected. "Looks like we know who's really hiding the effects of the booze," he taunted.

The crowd around them laughed profusely at the embarrassed and now at least partially drunk Anko. Orochimaru brought some of the cheering back as he set the glass down tying the score up yet again.

It wasn't until four drinks later that Anko lost, her body betrayed her and she puked. To her credit though, almost no one had made it that long with the particular drink she and her sensei agreed to use in their game. Orochimaru stopped after she vomited, so they technically tied in drinks but puking was considered 'minus one drink' so the official record books of drinking competitions in that bar listen Orochimaru at ten and Anko at nine. Only two had made it further with that same drink… the other two Sannin who had their own competition against one another years prior and they had unbelievable stats of sixteen to fifteen… Tsunade the winner. This was some fairly hard shit I might add…

After Anko and Orochimaru's game, the three of them socialized amongst each other and various shinobi they knew that dropped in for a couple hours and Tokuro took off, shortly after Anko was getting sleepy. Orochimaru wanted to leave before she had a chance to pass out, but with Tokuro gone he didn't have a choice. Anko was too special to him to leave alone at a bar full of drunken shinobi so she could fall asleep and have God knows what happen. When she did pass out, Orochimaru picked her up and headed to his personal lab… which was where he was heading before running into his former pupils in the first place.

The Sannin noticed he was walking kind of slow, and admitted to himself Anko was right… he was great at hiding things. Someone who wasn't drunk themselves may have noticed his responses were slightly later than normal, but he did a fantastic job of preventing any sort of slur to formulate through his words. He wasn't a fool, he knew he was drunk but since he stopped as soon as the game was over and a couple hours had passed it had already partially worn off… he'd be fine. On the other hand, was it smart to work like this? Probably not… _I suppose I have Tsunade to thank for the victory though, she's the reason why my tolerance built up in the first place._ He chuckled at the reminder.

When he reached the lab and let himself in, Anko stirred awake as he plopped her in his work chair. She protested mumbling something inaudible in confusion but quickly her eyes locked up. The Sannin paid her no mind, opening a desk up and pulling a storage scroll out to retrieve a second chair for himself, and to work he went. Alcohol be damned.

* * *

Orochimaru slipped back into the conscious world, but his eyes protested his mind and remained shut even though he was waking up. He smelled… coffee? The Sannin's tongue ventured out of his mouth briefly and retracted confirming his thought. Coffee. Satisfied that both his nose and his tongue came to the same conclusion he opened his eyes wondering who the hell let themselves into his home. Then he realized something else. He wasn't home. _Damn it, I fell asleep while working again…_

Anko was one making coffee, which was no shock to him as she was the person who came to his lab more often than any of the other few people that knew of its existence. Then his memory came back to him that he carried her here the previous night before working on his secret project for the foundation… _Shit._ His gaze shifted to his former pupil's back oblivious that he had awoken, too preoccupied with Mr. Coffee, over to his top secret formulas, papers and various information the foundation scientists had already gathered about trying to recreate Wood Style. _Did she go through any of it?_ He wondered.

 _"_ _How many people know about your lab?"_ He recalled Danzo asking.

 _"_ _Almost no one, I was previously unaware you knew of it."_

 _"_ _Is it secure?"_

 _"_ _Of course, I'm not very tolerant of being spied on."_

 _"_ _I see… But if anyone finds out about our project, you must kill them and destroy all traces of the encounter. For the good of the Leaf village, we must ensure we succeed in our project and we cannot allow the Hokage's to intervene."_

 _Orochimaru nodded. "I understand."_

"Oh… morning sensei," She greeted upon turning around. "Do you keep aspirin anywhere here?"

Her pale skinned sensei directed his finger at a cabinet in the far corner of the lab and she gave a half hearted smile and thanked him, anxious to be rid of her nausea.

As Anko reached for it, her instincts were screaming at her to turn around and she reflexively turned only to be effortlessly restrained against the wall by her sensei. In her shock, she just stared at her sensei disbelieving an aura of killing intent flowed off of him. His hand gripped her against the wall by her throat and another reached for a kunai. She looked into his eyes with horror. She knew that look; it was the same look she gave an enemy she planned to kill. The same look she inherited from him as his student.

But in the midst of his actions, he hesitated. The hand with the kunai was raised but did not proceed. He felt his heart beat like a drum; sweat uncharacteristically dripped from his forehead and built up in various places on his body. Never did Orochimaru struggle to take life. Never. He felt himself tremble weakly; he gripped the kunai tighter but didn't dare strike out with it. Anko watched him terrified, just hoping this was all a _sick_ joke which she honestly wouldn't put passed him. Hell, she could see herself do it to her own Genin someday. Orochimaru finally had enough. He screamed out loudly and brought the kunai down. Anko's eyes widened as he released the grip on her throat and she paled.

Orochimaru stabbed himself!

He panted rapidly, as if trying to regain control over himself. He dislodged the kunai from his torso and stabbed again. And again. And again. And _again._ Before losing it even further, stabbing himself with more power and with greater speed. Blood splattered everywhere. It covered himself, the wall and floor, the cabinets and counter below them as well as Anko herself who was freaking out slumping to the floor forced to watch her sensei's madness.

Finally stopping, he left the kunai in his chest and fell to his knees. He was panting rapidly and again and it was clear that he was feeling pure agony. If Anko thought it was impossible for Orochimaru to surprise her any further, she was wrong. His mouth opened up unnaturally wide and a new, fresh Orochimaru splashed out of his own canal covered in slime. He stood up, still panting slightly but he was regaining control over his emotions. Anko was astonished, he was fully healed! Even his flak jacket and other attire were perfectly replicated like new. His former body was abandoned in a pool of his own blood all over the floor.

"H-How dd-did you..?"

"It's a new jutsu I've developed," he stated in a voice that indicated he found it unimportant at the moment. "Anko my dear… I'm sorry."

Anko was at a loss for words. She didn't really understand what the fuck just happened… she opened her mouth but closed it and just stared at him like he grew a second head. Seeing she didn't know where to go from this the Sannin sighed. "I'm going to tell you some things… things you aren't supposed to know. Things even the Hokage doesn't know about, and then we're going to decide what to do about it together, okay?" The Chunin nodded slowly, starting to guess he was under a lot more stress than she knew.

"Firstly, I wish to explain that my outburst was because I had been instructed to kill anyone who found out about a project I have been working on. But I cannot kill you, I just… can't," he admitted, feeling weak. For a second, she felt somewhat touched, her sensei could be as cold as any shinobi to ever exist… if someone had to die, Orochimaru would take care of it with no hesitation.

"I may have… made some poor choices recently, Anko," he further opened up and she listened intently, sitting herself upright. The more he thought about it, the more it hit home. He was ordered to kill whoever discovered the project because they were a danger to the project's existence. But how could he kill a former pupil? Even if he didn't care about Anko, which he did, it would still have been so wrong… _Killing a former pupil? Killing a Leaf shinobi… Killing a comrade?_ Suddenly, having come so close to the offense, he felt it to be the most atrocious act he could ever have committed. Nothing about killing a comrade was good for the Hidden Leaf.

Guilt. It was almost a completely foreign concept to the Snake Sannin, but he was getting well reacquainted with it now. "I have been working with the foundation on a project to revive the extinct kekkei genkai known as Wood Style. This is top secret, and behind the third and fourth Hokage's backs," he revealed. "Danzo manipulated my anger and bitterness of not becoming the fourth Hokage and dragged me into this… leading me to believe I was doing something good for the village, but after nearly committing that despicable act I'm beginning to see things more clearly now," he went on.

Anko was taken aback by his admissions but remained silent, letting him talk. "I'm being used. The goal is good, that is true. Wood Style being revived would make the Leaf village exponentially stronger if we were able to eventually form a clan of Wood Style users," he mused. "However, the means the foundation takes to achieve their goals borderline treachery and evil," Orochimaru declared.

"I've been a fool, and I have to put a stop to myself before I go out of control," he decided, removing his Leaf headband, dropping it on his desk.

"Sensei…" he glanced back to his friend upon hearing that one softly spoken word. "Pull yourself together!" She practically spat and stood up. "You're not giving up a damned thing," she told him. "Now put that headband on, so we can start plotting against the foundation," She smirked.

Orochimaru was stunned. Did he raise such a loyal student? He had just tried to kill her, and yet… she just volunteered to help him. Seeing his surprise she walked over to him and embraced the shocked man. "Thank you for not killing me… It's touching, really."

Orochimaru didn't return the hug, merely staring down in amazement expecting her to explode with anger; this was Anko after all… "There is nothing touching about a mentor trying to kill their former student because he was ordered to."

"No," she agreed. "But watching your _friend,_ one of the coldest and least merciful shinobi in the world, as he chooses to stab himself repeatedly instead of kill you… Is indescribable," She replied, releasing him.

Orochimaru's facial expression showed he didn't even want to try and comprehend it any further. He felt only a mixture of pain and shame at the moment… but Anko brought him back to reality as she snatched the Leaf headband off the desk and tied it around his forehead again for him. She looked up to him with an almost _cheerful_ smile. "So, what are we going to do first? Well…" She then hesitated and turned around to stare at the mess on the floor. "After we take care of that I mean. I doubt it would be a good idea to have blood all over the place and a strange copy of you on the floor that basically looks like a corpse of you," She mused, and Orochimaru's eyes drifted over to it himself.

"Oh and by the way, you're teaching me that jutsu as an additional apology," She decided.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him agape. Orochimaru told him the entirety of the story as well as his feelings. From his bitterness about Minato being selected instead of him, to what he was now admitting as Danzo's manipulation of those feelings to the Wood Style project to drinking with Anko and Tokuro and what followed the morning after, which was yesterday. Hiruzen needless to say, was disappointed in his student but he was also in awe with the change he detected. Never had Orochimaru seemed… ashamed or disgusted with any action or decision he made over the years, and the third Hokage could list a few he found to reflect badly on his character.

"Anko volunteered to help cripple the foundation," he added. "I did not ask for it, she insisted it all on her own… It was actually her idea for me to come to you instead of little Minato… What do you have to say?" The Sannin asked, looking the third Hokage in the eyes.

"Danzo trusts you because of the person he believes you to be. He see's you as someone like him, willing to step over the line for the village."

"He said as much," Orochimaru admitted.

Hiruzen nodded. "Then you must understand that he trusts you deeply… As you've thankfully assessed… Danzo takes things too far. I have always admitted we needed the foundation but he doesn't just step over the line, he sprints across the plane," he analogized. "White needs black, and black needs white," he continued. "They must coexist, and that is exactly what Danzo and I have been for many years." Orochimaru nodded.

"I don't want the foundation destroyed, but there are things we can't allow them to do. That is why it is so complicated," he mused, grabbing his pipe. "The fourth Hokage can't touch him; Danzo and I made an agreement that still stands today. We do not interfere with the foundation and the foundation does not interfere with us."

"Then… there's nothing we can do?" Orochimaru stated, pausing. "…Officially," he chuckled.

Sarutobi nodded. "You're in a good position right now Orochimaru. You're permitted access behind foundation walls, and you can become my eyes and ears in there. I'll speak with the fourth Hokage and convince him to leave the issues that are tied with the foundation in our hands.'

"Splendid," the Snake Sannin smiled. "Anko and I will begin devising plans immediately and I will visit you regularly to report developments worth sharing," he decided standing up to take his leave, stopping in the doorway.

"Thanks sensei… I see now that your decision to go with little Minato over me wasn't wrong after all… and some day, I will figure out what little Minato has that I do not that makes us who we are and makes me unworthy." The statement was genuine and held no sign of anger or resentment towards either Kage.

* * *

Orochimaru had now been tied up in foundation business for five years. Sarutobi had been reinstated as the active Hokage two years ago due to Minato dying in the Kyuubi attack after a short three year reign as Hokage. Orochimaru was on a mission at the time and wished he had been there to possibly catch the bastard that unleashed it on them in the first place. The attack marked the beginning of distrust and tension towards the Uchiha clan, and the Snake Sannin very much wanted to track the assailant down to end the village's current infighting. However, he had his own problems… the foundation.

The attempt to insert the Wood Style kekkei genkai gene into a group of ROOT ANBU failed, of course… the Sannin was the one who did all of the procedures… and unknown to Danzo and the foundation, he didn't actually try to do what he was expected to do. In fact, he added a completely different gene into their systems. One that held no value as a shinobi that simply made it harder to grow body hair. He figured it was unlikely anyone would find out that his four test subjects suddenly were going to lack the ability to grow chest hair. Anko had found this solution very amusing.

All of his reports were a load of highly detailed bullshit analysis that he and Anko carefully made up to satisfy Danzo that he was indeed doing his job. Unfortunately, a week after this Danzo informed Orochimaru that one of his ROOT scientists believes it would be wise to make an attempt on children instead, believing them to be more likely to adapt to the gene's presence. Orochimaru agreed, he knew that if it were on record that he didn't, the foundation would start questioning his competence or motives because the theory was likely true. So now, he and Anko had to figure out what to do about this… they had time because the ROOT scientists were going to take time to conduct further research and they also required candidates for the procedures. Apparently Danzo planned to capture children throughout the Hidden Leaf, including a few from important clans by the chance their body would be more welcoming to the gene and possibly create a ninja that possessed two kekkei genkai.

"As interesting as it would be to see a Wood Style user with the Sharingan… what are we going to do to stop this from happening?" Anko thought aloud.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Yes interesting indeed," he agreed and changed to a more serious expression. "Unless sensei intends for me to openly defy them and forcibly end this, there is nothing we can do to prevent the abduction of children," he decided. "At best, there will be more ANBU and more Uchiha surveying than before, with a particular increase of security in places children are normally found. I suspect he will notify the clan heads that there are rumors of a rogue ninja seeking to experiment on children with kekkei genkai or unique abilities," The Sannin analyzed.

"You'll make a good fifth," Anko stated all the sudden. Orochimaru laughed dismissively. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves Anko my dear… I still have a lot to prove to myself." He retorted, refraining from telling her that sensei's decision to come out of retirement was to allow him to remain his spy within the foundation as opposed to naming him the fifth Hokage. Anko let it slide, but she was annoyed that her sensei was still being so hard on himself for the incident between them that occurred five years prior. She hoped he would get over it after they bring the foundation to their knees.

He glanced up at the clock. "I'll be back later…" He told her. "I have to meet with the foundation as well as sensei today. Not to mention I was hoping to get some training in."

Anko nodded. "All right, I think I'll take off as well then, my friends are wondering why I'm not seen very often when I'm in the village. I need to make some appearances…"

Orochimaru nodded in understanding to the Chunin that was well on her way to becoming a Jonin this upcoming fall. "Very well, just take the day off then."

Anko beamed. "Awesome! I've been your _slave_ this past week! Dying for some girl time…" Orochimaru rolled his slit eyes, reminding himself she was still just a teenager.

"Make sure you lock the doors…" He reminded with a hint of paranoia, setting off first while Anko gathered her things.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not an idiot!"

* * *

"What do you want?" Orochimaru stated irritably without preamble, entering the room Danzo and some of his closer ANBU awaited.

"Orochimaru…" Danzo greeted. "I am shorthanded at the moment, and would like to ask you to handle something for us in the Land of Earth."

The Sannin raised an eyebrow. "Why me?"

"As I said, I'm shorthanded… And you have a connection with one of the targets."

The piqued Orochimaru's interest, but he didn't display it on his face. Silently, he felt a tinge of worry. _Who could he be talking about? I don't have any ties to Hidden Stone ninja…_ "Kabuto Yakushi and Lady Nono."

Orochimaru's eyes widened briefly but showed no other reaction. "What? They've betrayed the Leaf? Both of them? But how did they establish communication if you knew what villages they were in at all times…?"

Danzo shook his head. "No. They are not traitors… yet. We have decided that they know _too much,_ and have become threats to the village. I want them executed _for the good of the Leaf village._ We have already arranged for them to attack one another, you will kill the victor, and make it appear they took each other out."

Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile. "Child's play. Consider it done."

Orochimaru was forced to dash out of the village, completely ignoring the visit he had planned to have with Sarutobi-sensei after exiting the foundation HQ. He didn't have time to explain anything… he had to get the Hidden Stone as quick as possible, and stop Danzo's plan from working. He wasn't faking the smile he had on his face when accepting the mission, he indeed was happy. Very happy. If this mission hadn't been delegated to Orochimaru, two loyal Hidden Leaf spies were going to die to preserve Danzo's absurd paranoia.

* * *

Kabuto sighed in relief. Apparently, his cover had been blown and this Hidden Stone ninja was sent to assassinate him. He'd better report this to the Leaf, they had to know the Hidden Stone was onto them. A smirk slipped onto his face as an idea came to him. _I'll use the Facial Copy jutsu to return to the village as the assassin and try to determine how much they know._ Deciding it was his best play, and wanting to make sure a war didn't break out between the Leaf and the Stone he bent down over the corpse to do just that when…

"Release," A voice muttered whisking him into reality. A shinobi stood before him wearing a Leaf flak jacket and headband, with a pair of earrings forming the shape of nines, with long familiar dark hair and an extremely pale skin tone.

"Y-you…" Kabuto realized. "I mean- Lord Orochimaru," He greeted formally. That was how all foundation members other than Danzo addressed the man.

"Kabuto," he replied evenly, and removed his hand from Kabuto's shoulder, placing it on another shinobi to his side releasing her from his Genjutsu.

Kabuto struggled slightly, hoping to break free, as the Sannin had tied both the spies up with snakes. "Why would you tie me up?" he grumbled and then he finally noticed something as the assassin's mind returned to reality.

" _Mother!?"_ He shouted, earning a very confused look from the Stone shinobi.

Lady Nono looked from Kabuto to Orochimaru and back to Kabuto thoughtfully. "Who are you?" She asked skeptically and then to Orochimaru. "And release me this instant we're on the same side!"

Orochimaru chuckled at their confusion. "Lady Nono… perhaps you should look more closely at the boy beside you… He is Kabuto Yakushi."

"What!? No he's not! I've seen pictures of Kabuto and I know that's not him! You'll have to try harder to fool me you disgusting-"

"Danzo and the foundation used a tactic on you known as gradual brainwashing. He sent you pictures of Kabuto at first, but slowly began sending pictures of someone who looked similar to Kabuto without you noticing. Until you simply believe that other person to be Kabuto and the real one to be an imposter. It is commonly used by them," he explained nonchalantly.

"Now then…" He continued, cutting off any further interruptions. "Danzo arranged for the two of you to encounter one another and have one kill the other, leaving the other for me to finish off… and make it appear like the two of you took each other out."

"What? Why would he do that!? You're lying!"

"I've done everything they asked me to! There's no reason for the Leaf to turn their back on me!" Kabuto protested as well.

"Oh but there is a reason… You're both dangerous, possessing tons of information that could be used to destroy the Leaf village. To Danzo, you're both threats," The Sannin revealed, then smiled deviously. "Luckily for you, I'm not here to carry out Danzo's agenda. I have my own."

The two spies stared at him wordlessly, letting it all sink in while also wondering what plans the Sannin had in store for them. "Kabuto, I have to return to the Leaf village and report that I killed you off. In order for you both to return to the village, you will need to teach Lady Nono that jutsu I showed you."

"The Facial Copy jutsu?" Orochimaru nodded, it was the greatest asset he passed onto young Kabuto. The original version of the jutsu left the victim a faceless corpse… but the Sannin saw the potential it held for infiltration and perfected it after lots and lots of experimenting on already dead shinobi. Once he found a way to do it without defacing the target, and also was able to prolong the number of days one could maintain the affects, he enlisted it as an S-Class supplementary Ninjutsu, but so far only he and Kabuto were capable of using it.

"Once she's mastered it, you will head to the Leaf village posing as civilians, and go to a restaurant known as Izinaki's every afternoon until you see a kunoichi with purple hair. You'll know it's her because she's going to borrow my earrings for the occasion," he elaborated, touching one of the nines as he did so. "Besides, how many people have purple hair…?" He mused. "She will know everything, so you won't need to explain anything. She is my former pupil," he explained, dispelling the snakes from around their bodies. "Enjoy your reunion."

* * *

Two more years had passed since Orochimaru had saved Kabuto and Lady Nono. Unfortunately for the spies, they were not allowed to resume their true identities in order to protect them from Danzo and the foundation. Sarutobi happily provided them with new legitimate identifications and backgrounds that were believable as well as money. Then they were taught how to change their appearance through Genjutsu, they didn't take it too far… just changing their features enough to appear to be different people but ultimately resemblance existed, both of them drastically changed their hairstyles; Nono went as far as to have pink hair just to seem like a weird civilian. Very few shinobi would choose such a bright color, so her choice wasn't so dumb despite the fact pink attracts attention. Kabuto trimmed his down and went with a spiky style. Anko held her personal suspicions that he'd seen Kakashi Hatake walk by and decided to try and emulate his style.

After half a year passed, Kabuto was made a Genin and lord third went to the trouble of making a tedious but real-looking background and records of missions he never actually took. His Jonin instructor was considered classified information and he was supposedly was alone as a student, a part of a rare two-person team. A master and an apprentice. His name was no longer Kabuto of course… he was now Yusuke Suzuki.

His prominence in medical ninjutsu raised a lot of eyebrows, a rare sight when looking upon a Genin but whenever someone asked he simply told them his sensei taught him, but his sensei's identity was classified information so he could not tell them more. Quite amusingly, —At least to Orochimaru and Jiraiya anyway—there was a lot of speculation that Kabuto's sensei was actually Tsunade, and he just wasn't trained inside the village. Of course, that didn't explain how he had mission records, but since Sarutobi only faked D-ranks and one C-rank there wasn't much investigating any suspicious person could do to prove them to be false. The C-rank was a mission written in above average detail, and claimed he took the mission as apart of a team with Orochimaru and Anko who of course would gladly lie for him in any way they could.

The listed C-rank could also be proven to have happened, since Orochimaru and Anko actually did that one as a duo. Though beneath him, Orochimaru had been taking some quick C-ranks to stay in the village as much as possible and if he could take Anko that made it even easier; keeping her away from the longer or more dangerous missions that could result in injury and slow down their progress for and against the foundation. 'Yusuke' rather unsurprisingly was made a Chunin on his first time through the exams, and Orochimaru recruited him into their cause to take down the foundation.

* * *

Disaster.

That is what was occurring in Orochimaru's personal lab. Danzo insisted that he and his top ROOT scientists be present to assist in the proceedings and observe along with the Sannin this time around… which ruined Orochimaru and Anko's plan. Originally, he hoped to simply insert an irrelevant gene again, perhaps the same one that inhibited body hair growth on the previous test subjects but he couldn't do anything of the sort with them _in his lab_. Tonight was merely preparations, tomorrow morning the insertions would take place and he had no idea how to stop it. The children, most of which had been kidnapped were helped into their tanks. All of them with protest aside from an exception of a young browned haired boy named Kinnoe. Kinnoe was a young foundation recruit who accepted the demand that he be put through the tests. The boy seemed hesitant, scared perhaps as Danzo's scientists did not sugarcoat their expectation they might all die. Danzo actually scolded the boy for showing "irrational emotions" claiming it unfit of a shinobi. Orochimaru took pity on the child, but at the moment he could do little.

"I am not needed for menial tasks," Orochimaru decided, turning towards his lab's doors. He felt Danzo's suspicious gaze drill into the back of his head which he found amusing. "Don't do anything to my stuff… or I guarantee someone is going to be 'missing' soon enough," he chuckled darkly and stepped out. _So Danzo, you're paranoia has finally latched onto to me?_ As the Sannin walked towards his home, he quickly figured out that he was being subtly followed by a three man team of ROOT ANBU. He laughed quietly to himself. _It's about time, Danzo._ The Snake Sannin acted oblivious, allowing the trio to shadow him all the way to his home. Shutting the door behind him he turned a light on inside and did some things that seemed like normal routine, he knew they were watching through the living room window because he intentionally chose not to shut the curtains, which he would normally do. He sat down at the kitchen table and had a quick meal and sat his dishes in the sink before returning to the living room.

He took his flak jacket off and tossed it beside him on the couch, removed his shoes and set them down sighing as he leaned back into the cushion of his furniture, shutting his eyes as he did so. He knew that the ANBU watching would be fooled. He was too good of an actor and too good at ignoring their existence. The Sannin appeared to be so relaxed… it was simply impossible he was fully aware of the ANBU watching him, right?

The highly attentive ANBU began to relax as Orochimaru had been in their view the entire time thanks to the open curtain, and he appeared to be asleep for about forty minutes before waking up. In actuality, the Sannin was awake the entire time, acting was an often underestimated skill in the shinobi world, and it was one of his fortes for a reason. He maintained the appearance of peaceful sleeping while plotting his next moves. When he 'woke up,' he continued the act, doing an impressive job at displaying grogginess, knowing how to move and just how slow to move without looking… off… to his viewers. Then, he continued to play his game by moving to turn the light off and head to his bedroom.

Orochimaru knew his house like the back of his hand, no one could truly survey him here with his acting skills. The second he was casually walking through the doorway of his bedroom, in a position that was one of the few blind spots to _every_ window in the house he created a shadow clone which was tasked with the job of continuing the acting display and go to bed. The real Orochimaru remained in the blind spot a moment, kneeling down and biting his thumb. "Summoning jutsu," he whispered in the darkness of his own home, hearing his clone pull the covers over himself.

The summoned reptile looked at the Sannin questioningly as Orochimaru was giving the universal signal for 'shh.' The snake before him was known as a chameleon snake, for its ability to change skin color, which he intended to use to his advantage to escape unnoticed from the highly trained ANBU team, expecting they would keep an eye out for snakes. After relaying the relevant information to the snake via pen and scroll the snake took in its passenger and did what it did best, camouflaged itself. From inside the snake, Orochimaru directed it which way to go by memory of his house's layout while synchronizing the knowledge with the speed the snake was traveling. Yes, Orochimaru is a genius.

Following the Leaf shinobi's directions, the snake slipped out of the house and slithered through the garden in the back yard, and dug into a spot where someone had clearly dug before. The snake forced its way through and fell into a passageway underground before vomiting its passenger up. "Excellent," Orochimaru commented, wiping slime out of his eyes. "You may go now; thank you." The chameleon snake vanished without another word in a poof of smoke and Orochimaru sprinted through the passageway. He'd created an underground tunnel network starting from his house when he purchased it to get to certain places quickly without being noticed. He could use them to reach three places. His sensei's, his lab, and Jiraiya's place. An unfinished fourth tunnel had been intended for Tsunade's before she abandoned the village and he had yet to get around to making one that would take him to Anko's, mostly because she was too young to have considered buying her own actual house as opposing to renting an apartment.

When he reached the end of his passage and emerged from the surface he found that Sarutobi had not went to bed yet. He and his son were out on the balcony smoking together, and were stunned by his entrance. Asuma, unaware of Orochimaru's underground passages stood up immediately and pulled his chakra blades out before recognizing the face of their intruder.

"Orochimaru?" Hiruzen stated, knowing whatever was going on was very very bad for him to bother going underground to reach him.

"What the hell?" Asuma simply said.

"No time to explain, boy," Orochimaru rushed. "Those children are going to receive the Wood Style gene tomorrow morning, I can't stop it."

Not needing further explanation for the moment Sarutobi stood up. "Then it's time for you to give up your real loyalties."

The Sannin nodded. "I was thinking as much, but I needed to consult you before taking actions into my own hands."

"I appreciate that," Sarutobi thanked. "How long do we have? Has Danzo chosen a precise time to begin?"

"Seven hours. But I suggest we just get it over with."

"Hm…" the third Hokage considered. "If we wait, we can organize a safer assault to stop him, rather than put all the risk and pressure on you."

"Organizing a 'safer' assault means you would violate the agreement between the Leaf village and the foundation. I will take care of this on my own, sensei," he promised.

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "What are your intentions?"

Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile. "I'm going to put an end all of this… By grabbing the problem by the _root_." Both Sarutobi's rolled their eyes at the pun, and the new Jonin stepped forward assertively.

"What exactly is going on? I might be willing to help…" Asuma was just a rookie Jonin, but capable and wise beyond his years, like his old man.

"I'm afraid your involvement would only further indicate sensei had a hand in this…" Orochimaru objected.

"Nonsense," Asuma refuted. "If that's the case for me, that's the case for you just as much…" He argued and Sarutobi couldn't help but chuckle.

"A fine point."

"Hn, fine," Orochimaru conceded. "We're preventing the foundation from trying to wrongfully and secretly resurrect the first Hokage's Wood Style jutsu while conducting tests that will likely kill their subjects, which are mostly kidnapped children," he summed up.

"Kidnapped… That was the foundation!?" Asuma repeated, appalled and Hiruzen nodded in confirmation.

"I'm in," The young Jonin decided.

"Orochimaru… I ask you to yield if Danzo willingly surrenders." The Sannin gazed at his former sensei questioningly as if saying 'Like that would ever happen.' "I know, I know… But if he does, you must promise me you will yield!" his former student stared straight into Lord third's eyes for a moment and with just a hint of a smile nodded.

"As you wish, but I doubt it will come to that," he replied.

The Snake Sannin made a 'follow me' gesture to the younger Sarutobi and they took off, leaving the Hokage behind to hope for the best. "Danzo is probably resting for the night in foundation headquarters… I'll deal with him; I have the clearance to enter. You can rescue the little ones…"

"You'll have to show me where to go," Asuma pointed out.

"That is not an issue… There are a couple people we're going to get before the _fun_ begins."

"Who did you have in mind?" He asked, ignoring the twisted excitement.

"The only other two people who know what's going on… Anko Mitarashi and Yusuke Suzuki."

Hearing Anko wasn't surprising because who he was talking to but he lost his cigarette from his jaw dropping at hearing about Kabuto. "Yusuke Suzuki? How did he get involved in such a huge secret?"

"It doesn't matter," Orochimaru dismissed.

* * *

"Lord Orochimaru?" One of the surprised ANBU greeted at the entrance.

The Snake Sannin gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before brushing passed the guards. Once inside, he figured they knew he was being observed by their colleagues, which mean Danzo had taken measures to defend himself if Orochimaru discovered it and decided to come to the foundation in a foul mood. _Always the meticulous and paranoid one, Danzo._ As he passed through the halls, noticed that there were an abnormal amount of ANBU awake and on duty and that none of them seemed to take his presence without slight hesitation or indication of surprise. _Hmpt… Danzo put them all on high alert, he's afraid of how I might react to being followed. If I have to fight too many of them… I'll just have to rely on Anko, Asuma and Kabuto to handle the lab by themselves._

"Lord Orochimaru!" A frog masked ANBU greeted coldly, stepping in the Sannin's way of entering the room Danzo occupied. Orochimaru gave an acknowledging nod, however unlike the previous ANBU; this one stepped towards him rather than allow him to pass.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Sannin asked innocently as the ANBU restrained him. Orochimaru was pinned up against the wall, his nose pressed up against the paneling. Unfortunately for the ANBU, being overwhelmed and pushed around so easily just wasn't realistic when up against a Sannin. Using the neck elongation jutsu, his head twisted around three hundred and sixty degrees and wrapped the masked man up like a present, with Orochimaru's head halting by his chest.

"Do you know what happens when a snake is intoxicated?" He asked his restrained prey, receiving what he assumed was a blank stare behind the mask he answered for the other shinobi.

"They lose their sense of direction and often find themselves accidently tying themselves into knots…" he trailed off stretching his head further to meet the man eye to eye after ripping the frog mask off with tongue elongation revealing the man to be a man in his late twenties, with long blonde hair and a single frightened eye, a scar where the other used to reside. "That is what I'm going to do to you if you do not do _exactly_ what I say," He threatened, licking his lips creepily as he fully retracted his tongue.

"Wh-What do you want from me?"

Orochimaru smirked. "Use your clan's jutsu to contact the ANBU in my laboratory, and order them to send more troops here to support Danzo. I'm going to take the foundation on all at once…"

"What?" The surprised ANBU stammered.

In truth, he simply wanted to reduce the numbers for Anko and the others. "Of course, I don't want you to send everyone… I still need someone to watch over my test subjects after all," He explained, sounding very convincing. Acting could be so underrated.

He unwrapped himself from the man's body retracting his head and neck into their natural position and turned around to face the man. "Now, do it."

This was a man who did not like being told what to do but he cooperated with the Sannin… for now. After performing his telepathy, Orochimaru smiled before snaring him up with Striking Shadow Snakes and dropping him to the ground. "We had a deal!" He protested as the Sannin turned his attention back to the door and Danzo.

"I never said I would let you go," Orochimaru retorted and opened the door. "Thank you for your cooperation Inoanji," he mocked, letting himself in the room, leaving a seething Yamanaka struggling mightily to free himself from the nest of snakes.

"Bastard," he sneered. "Just you wait… I'll perfect my secret jutsu and we'll see whose corpse is left in knots!" He declared after the Sannin had already moved on.

* * *

"Why do you think so many of them dispersed like that?" Kabuto wondered.

"I don't know for sure, Yusuke… But if I were to guess, they're responding to a distress call to stop Orochimaru," Asuma presumed.

Kabuto paled. "Do you really think he'll be all right against the number of ANBU he's going to face?"

Anko snorted. "I highly doubt there's a shinobi in the entire world that's more difficult to kill than Orochimaru," She confidently scolded him.

Yusuke adjusted his glasses before responding. "Even so, he's mortal."

"Sometimes I wonder…" She smirked.

Asuma rolled his eyes. "All right, that's enough you two. We're here for a reason you know," he reminded.

* * *

"Orochimaru…"

"Danzo."

The suspicious eyes of Danzo and two ANBU each of which stood up and greeted the Sannin with hostility on the spot but Orochimaru welcomed it. "It would appear I warrant suspicion."

"What did you do to my ANBU?" Danzo asked accusingly.

Orochimaru chuckled. "They were… dealt with." To the Sannin's knowledge, they were still observing his shadow clone, but the Shimura didn't need to know that.

The ever so familiar scowl on Danzo's face intensified. "I see." He waved a signal with his hand and ANBU appeared surrounding him throughout the entire room.

"But what do you intend to do now?" He asked calmly, the tension mounting.

Orochimaru felt his mood sway into a personality he often slipped into during the second and third shinobi wars. He found that he possessed a vicious, cold side to him that he harnessed during the wars to become the most powerful shinobi he could, but now he understood what nearly happened to him five years ago… In his frustration and _pain_ with being snubbed for Hokage combined with Danzo's manipulative gestures, he nearly allowed that persona to _consume_ him. "I have to do something," the Snake Sannin chuckled. "… _for the good of the Leaf village,"_ He laughed, deciding now was the time to awaken that side of him.

On Danzo's signal ANBU stormed the room, surrounding him completely. Orochimaru smirked at all the ANBU. There had to be twenty at least, possibly more. Several of them drew their katana, provoking amused laughter. "Kenjutsu?" He paused to intimidate them with a creepy snicker. "So be it," he decided, a snake elongating from his mouth releasing the sword of Kusanagi.

A brave ANBU rushed at him and a bored looking Sannin raised Kusanagi to block his first four strikes quickly and skillfully. As the ANBU was going in for the fifth strike, Kusanagi was swiftly lodged into his chest with unreadable speed. In his death he lost the grip of his katana which Orochimaru was already reaching for with his other hand, snatching the hilt out of the air and launching it at an unsuspecting ANBU that was preparing a jutsu all in one motion. The blade eased through his armor and killed him as well but Orochimaru wasn't paying any attention to him anymore, he was going for the triple kill.

Driving forward with Kusanagi still in the first victim's chest he proceeded to use his body as a shield watching the two ANBU striking out with their katana's defense. Seeing the opening he was looking for, he caught one of them by surprise by expanding Kusanagi's length, sending it right through his heart. Another ANBU behind him staggered back in surprise but foolishly stopped when he thought to be out of range.

Big mistake.

After a half-second pause, he expanded Kusanagi even further stabbing through that man's head before he realized what was happening. The other katana wielder took advantage of the moment, leaping over his meatshield and aiming for the Snake Sannin's head, slashing downwards. Seeing the attack coming, Orochimaru stepped to the side faintly, and then used the neck elongation jutsu to swerve his head out of the way causing the ANBU to strike out at air. The smirking Sannin opened his mouth and a snake released a poisoned kunai that hit one of the ANBU's arteries effectively eliminating him, meanwhile he was reducing Kusanagi to normal size. He retracted his head and leapt over a fireball, latching onto the ceiling with chakra through his feet and skillfully deflecting a volley of kunai with Kusanagi.

 _That's five._ The Sannin recollected, cutting the chakra off his feet and somersaulting in the air to land perfectly, avoiding a destructive wind jutsu from Danzo himself that brought half the ceiling down. A sadistic grin crept onto Orochimaru's face. He was going to enjoy this.

* * *

The trio panted heavily together, they had exhausted most of their chakra to survive that battle. But what of the potential ANBU inside? "We can't go in there like this," Yusuke pointed out.

Anko smirked. "We don't have to; we still have six hours before the procedures were scheduled to begin. We'll rest up a bit and take anyone out who exits the lab."

* * *

Blood stained the walls with the shriek of five ANBU being pinned down by oversized shuriken dug into their chests. "That was Hiruzen's jutsu!" Danzo shouted with frustration.

"You like that? I don't think I have to tell you this but that was the Shuriken Shadow Clone jutsu; I can think of a few other jutsu I learned from him that will come in handy," he stated in a clam taunting manner as he made a handsign that further angered Danzo. "For example, the elder brother of that technique… Shadow Clone jutsu," he announced and made two self duplicates.

 _Thirteen, not including Danzo. Hmpt I'll take out the final Kenjutsu user first._ Orochimaru decided and all three raised Kusanagi. "Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"

The triplicates charged in with admirable speed,

* * *

"You're all going to be okay! Calm down! Everything's fine now…" Anko attempted to soothe the children that were likely scarred for life after what they just witnessed. Blood painted the lab, the smell wreaked with a far more intense aroma than that time five years ago when her sensei desecrated himself alive before her.

"W-WW-Why are Leaf ninja attacking Leaf ninja!?" One of the kids panicked.

"The Ninja who were prepared to experiment on you were on authorized to… they were committing crimes against humanity," Asuma answered but could instantly see they didn't understand. No doubt they had all been lied to by the foundation.

"Their experiments would have probably killed every single one of you without regrets, and then they would've taken more children away and perhaps repeat their failure," Anko revealed bluntly, silencing the children immediately.

Yusuke lead them out of the lab, wanting to get them away from the disgusting sight but then remembered they had to kill a group of ANBU outside too. As a Chunin, he was a little surprised to survive the mission but then again Asuma and Anko who was practically a Jonin herself had been very tactful and he backed them up to the best of his ability; none of them suffered major injuries.

One of the children did not follow, his eyes drifted into space… very bloody space. He was taken back into reality with unexpected contact as someone rubbed their hand through his brown messy hair. "Kid… you're going to be all right… What's your name?" Anko asked with concern.

The boy stuttered for a second unsure to use his real name or the name ROOT gave him before settling on it. "Kinnoe."

* * *

"Wind style: Vacuum Serial Waves!" Danzo's voice bellowed. Windows shattered and parts of the walls crumpled, the ceiling being further destroyed but it would appear his attack missed its target somehow as the Snake Sannin appeared dashing on top of what remained of the complex's roof, still wielding Kusanagi with two ANBU right on his tail.

The ROOT duo halted their pursuit and began weaving identical handsigns for a combined jutsu. Orochimaru frowned, getting an idea of what they had in mind and through Kusanagi. The ANBU it was closest to hitting lazily sidestepped thinking Orochimaru was taking him for an idiot. On the other side the Sannin just smirked at them making a few of his own handsigns.

"Fire style: Dragon flame bomb!" both ANBU shouted together, blasting the area. With both of their chakra, the jutsu was much wider more powerful and even longer ranged than usual. They smiled behind their masks victoriously despite their training to swallow emotions as they watched their adversary become engulfed by the flames and burn to a crisp.

When the flames and smoke died out, nothing remained of Orochimaru but a charred log. Wait, what? Behind the two ROOT operatives Kusanagi transformed revealing to actually be the Snake Sannin who wasted no time approaching behind them, tossing a kunai through one's head as they turned around and kicked the second so hard Danzo could _hear_ the man's neck shatter as he joined him on the ceiling, fear evident in his visible eye.

 _H-he actually did it! He defeated them all! By himself… I never underestimated this man, but this is… just impossible!_ Danzo ranted silently. "It's just you and me Danzo, unfortunately, I can't kill you just yet."

The Shimura stared at the pale man hatefully, refusing to dignify him with a response. "I promised Sarutobi-sensei that I would yield if you surrender… Now is your last chance you old fool!"

 _This had nothing to do with those ANBU we sent to observe him! Hiruzen ordered him to assassinate me!_ He thought, scowling visibly. Danzo reached for the bandages covering his _special_ eye, deciding Orochimaru may be good at hiding fatigue, but no one can kill that many ANBU and not have their chakra run down. However, he stopped when a large force of ROOT ANBU landed around him. _Reinforcements?_

 _Damn it._ Orochimaru silently cursed, understanding that these were the men he drew away from the lab using Inoanji to his advantage. It would appear his desire to help Anko and the others out would probably cost him his life now. For some reason, he smiled at the thought. Five years ago, because of this very same man he was trying to kill, he nearly murdered the closest person to him. Now, he would instead die with honor, while saving this man's other victims and hopefully keeping Anko alive as well. For some reason, death didn't sound so bad when you put it that way and the Sannin prepared to _attack_ the large group. Then at the last second he sensed someone leap at him from behind, he prepared to impale the person's heart with Kusanagi when someone else interfered instead.

"Chidori!" A different ANBU shouted, forcing his assailant to back off and avoid a deadly lightning jutsu. _Kakashi Hatake?_ Orochimaru thought.

After avoiding Kakashi, the ANBU's eyes widened behind his pig mask as another person apprehended him from behind and held a katana to his throat. Orochimaru recognized the long purple hair. _Yugao Uzuki?_

"That's quite enough Danzo," Another voice stated warningly, landing between the pale Sannin and the crowd of ANBU.

"Hiruzen!" The Shimura spat.

"Sensei," Orochimaru greeted.

"You dare tell me that's enough? You send one of your men to assassinate me and tell _me_ that's enough before we're able to kill him?" He shouted in disgust towards the third Hokage.

"This wasn't an assassination mission; it was a mission to save the lives of children you kidnapped… And prevent a horrid tragedy."

"So you know?" Danzo retorted. "Then you should also know Orochimaru played a huge role in our project and that those children are in his lab not the foundation's headquarters!"

Orochimaru chuckled. "By now I'm sure the lab has been dealt with… I _convinced_ Inoanji Yamanaka to call for reinforcements here to lure as many away as I could for Anko and the others," he informed the third.

The ANBU around Danzo realized they'd been fooled and turned to their lord for orders but Danzo knew he'd been had. "My business here was but a diversion… though I would happily have killed you off, Danzo. I meant it when I said that would be for the good of the Leaf village."

"Fool! You know nothing!" Danzo shouted, clenching his fists.

"Danzo, yield," Sarutobi warned.

"Do you really think you can get away with this!" He spat. "You've trashed the foundation, killed lord knows how many of my men and ordered for a loyal elder of the Leaf to be killed! You're a disgrace to your title Hiruzen!"

"There is nothing loyal about kidnapping children, separating families you've sworn to protect," he countered. "We have plenty of evidence thanks to Orochimaru; you will yield now and get your act together. If you try to take any action against myself, the village… or Orochimaru, you will be exposed and executed! I know you do not wish to tell all of the village about the horrendous actions you've committed, and the only way you won't have to is if you yield and resume your position… And learn from this what happens to those who turn into what you've become!" Hiruzen told him harshly.

"Damn you Hiruzen! Everything I have done… Is for the good of the Leaf village!"

Orochimaru snorted. "That is from your eyes, and perhaps a few brainwashed lapdogs beside you but not the rest of the village," he cut off. "I've crippled the foundation; it will take you a long time to repair your branch of the Leaf… Fortunately for you, I'm not Hokage, so it would appear you're being offered the chance to do so." _Sensei, you're far too soft and generous… We should execute this treacherous fool._

"I say this for the last time Danzo, yield!" He demanded as two squads of ANBU landed around Sarutobi, Orochimaru, Kakashi and Yugao.

Danzo's visible eye shut in defeat and gestured for his followers to stand down. _This isn't over…_

* * *

Out of fear that the foundation would make an assassination attempt on either Sarutobi or Orochimaru (or perhaps both) they made precautions in secret to avoid an unexpected tragedy. Asuma joined ANBU, wishing to stay close as a guard for the Hokage as much as possible considering it was his father at risk.

Orochimaru's solution was to take a lot of missions, often taking Anko with him on two-man infiltration or assassination assignments which both were well suited for. He was relieved that Anko never actually found out who Danzo was, wishing that she know as little about that dangerous figure as possible. He didn't want him to target her as well, so over the years they worked against him, he always referred to them as the foundation and not Danzo when speaking to her.

Yusuke continued to adjust to his new life, and pursued his desired rank of Jonin while also becoming the best medic ninja in the Hidden Leaf bar Tsunade Senju, who of course deserted them long ago at that point. Kinnoe entered the academy hoping to become a strong ninja like the ones that he believed saved his life, unfortunately, unlike the other children he had been an orphan… so he was never kidnapped in the first place and really had nowhere to go without relying on the village to take care of him.

The other children returned to their families, who were given a bullshit story about a group of rogue Leaf ninjas taking them to a secret laboratory and preparing to conduct awful experiments on them to learn more about human biology to enhance medical ninjutsu skills. Hey, it was somewhat true right? It's not like they could announce to everyone a branch of the Hidden Leaf decided to try and risk kidnapped children to revive Wood Style.

Hiruzen remained Hokage as his interests and worries revolved around a group Jiraiya discovered known as the Akatsuki and from their initial discoveries he found that they could be a potential threat to the Leaf someday and was considering placing a spy in their ranks disguised as a rogue ninja.

Danzo, maintaining his position would eventually spark the massacre of the Uchiha clan… further igniting distrust from Sarutobi and his closest subordinates, even if it was to prevent a potential coup…

 ** _A/N:_** **Damn that one got long lol.**

 **I suppose I ought to address a couple things here that weren't blatantly stated. The timeline for when Kinnoe should have received his Wood Style powers aren't exactly correct… (btw people that haven't made it far enough in shippuden Kinnoe = Tenzo/Yamato… it was his actual ROOT codename)The reason for this is Orochimaru was literally doing things to make sure the foundation was unsuccessful instead of things working out. Of course, Kinnoe didn't get Wood Style at all here, but when I brought him into the chapter and he was supposed to receive the abilities, it was at a later time than it should have been canonwise.**

 **Minato's time as Hokage was pretty much a load of ?'s on the internet, I went with 3 yrs most would say 1-2 but I was nice to lord fourth lol.**

 **About the drinking thing, yes I am aware that ANko was not always of-age for it throughout this chapter however in this story, the laws were different at the time, I'm going to touch on it next chapter as Anko is going to be chatting with her Genin in chapter 16 and well it'll be explained.**

 **Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance seems to be a fairly simple technique that requires shadow clones and Kenjutsu knowledge. Sure its fancy and effective, but look at it… its simple as hell lol. So yes I gave yet another trick to Orochimaru, because he totally needs more jutsu/techniques? lol**

 **Snuck Inoanji into this chapter as the idea randomly popped in my head that he could be a ROOT operative… eh why not. :P This would have been shortly before Inanji's mastery of the curse mark and defection.**

 **Tokuro, as you obviously saw was my OC for Anko's Genin teammate, but it's really a matter of him being unnamed… It's a fact that Anko had a Hyuga teammate evidenced by a flashback image of her in the Chunin exams during the forest of death stage the guy just doesn't appear to have a name so I gave him one. I avoided the other teammate, not wanting to add another OC into the mix just yet, though he may pop up in the story someday.**

 **I really hope everyone loved this chapter as much as I do cause I had a blast reforming Orochimaru =) Til' next time!**


	16. The Rift of Team Seven

**Chapter 16: The Rift of Team Seven**

 ** _A/N:_** **Damn site was messed up for a few days and I couldn't post!**

 **Thank you all who have reviewed/favorited/followed this story! The stats of this story currently are so far beyond any past achievement of mine already and I really appreciate it =) 60+ Favs 130+ follows I never would've expected that in just 15 chapters, seriously thank you!**

 **Back to present day in the story… Enjoy**

A tall, blonde, busty kunoichi strolled down the hall out of the E.R. room and into the hospital lobby with triumphant smirk, pulling off her gloves. "He's going to be okay, but it will be awhile before he wakes up," Tsunade informed the large group waiting (some) patiently hoping for the best news for Kakashi Hatake.

Cheers and sighs of relief echoed through the room after several nerve-wracking hours. "He's stabilized and should hopefully recover just fine but it will take time; he won't be able to perform his duties as a ninja until…" The Senju then added.

"Who cares about that, he's alive!" Sakura cheered. For her, a tremendous amount of pressure was just lifted off of her shoulders as she subconsciously was prepared to blame herself if her sensei didn't make it. She didn't do anything useful during the battle, he suffered that horrid wound and she was the one who took it upon herself to get him back to the Leaf. The young kunoichi pushed herself harder than she'd ever done before on the journey back… Anko and the others didn't catch up to her until she'd slowed down after Yugao Uzuki and Hayate Gecko found her and relieved her of the burden.

Most of the other Genin from that mission were present as well in addition to Gai Yugao and Anko and all of them smiled both at the news and at Sakura's swing of mood. She in particular had been practically killing herself mentally for the entire wait in the lobby that had lasted more than three hours. Even Neji allowed a flicker of a smile that seemed to vanish as if he realized what he was doing and had to correct it. Rock Lee was the most exuberant of those who cheered, but that was just by nature. Tenten celebrated a little as well before turning a one eighty telling her teammate to calm down.

Gai Maito on the other hand… was a helpless cause. "MY ETERNAL RIVAL'S FLAMES OF YOUTH CANNOT BE EXTINGUISHED!" He exclaimed so loud just about everyone in the building raised an eyebrow. Patients three floors above them had been sleeping were suddenly awoken and the sleeping newborns were now crying. All of them. It was as if he had the attention of everyone _but_ his eternal rival, as collapsed into a chair shedding tears of joy. Neji sighed, as if expecting something like this while Tenten tried to comfort him and convince him to get a hold of himself before he could cause any further damage or upset any more people.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Yugao, who he had never seen before that he could remember, seemed very relieved as well. "Are you Kakashi's… well you know…" Before he could proceed further he was knocked across the back of his head by Anko and Yugao laughed.

"Thank you."

"Anytime," Anko welcomed cheerfully.

"What the hell was that for?!

"For being an idiot," his sensei berated.

"It was just a question! Geez."

"Well if you're so interested, anyone could tell you that Yugao is madly in love with Hayate, the other one who the Hokage sent to help Kakashi." Yugao, who had thanked the Snake Mistress just a moment before was now red as a tomato and glared at her like Tsunade would Jiraiya. It was intense, and Kiba snickered at the amusing exchange.

After Yugao regained her composure (and facial skin tone) she turned her attention back to Naruto. "Kakashi was a role model for me in ANBU, he was one of my first captains so I have a deep respect and care for him."

"Oh… I didn't know Kakashi-sensei was in ANBU!" Naruto replied thoughtfully.

"You know, I don't think he ever told our team about that either… He really avoids his past for some reason." Sakura joined in. Yugao at that moment realized it was time to turn this conversation elsewhere; Kakashi wouldn't like this if he were conscious.

"Sakura," Another boy interrupted, luckily for Yugao.

Sakura's eyes darkened, hands clenched her chair tighter and smile dispelled. "What?" She answered, not bothering to turn around to face her former crush and teammate.

Naruto watched both of them carefully analyzing. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Find me when he wakes up," he ordered her and started walking away.

"No," she refused in a cold voice, stopping him in his tracks. "You can comeback yourself, or have Ino-pig do your bidding."

"Tch," Sasuke grunted and stormed off. This is how the two have been since returning to the village, though none of the others treated Sasuke much better having witnessed his poor treatment of the pink haired kunoichi he supposedly called a teammate.

"Way to go Sakura…" Naruto stated without much enthusiasm, not wanting to trigger any of her anger his way.

"Speaking of Ino, why aren't she and Shikamaru here yet?" Kiba brought up.

"Maybe she still hasn't woken up from using that jutsu?" Suggested Naruto.

"Don't worry, I bet they'll both show up before Kakashi wakes up!" Anko assured.

Meanwhile nearby Tenten was yet again arguing with Gai and Lee. "You're not betraying him!"

"No, I am not! Because we're staying right here until he wakes up!" Gai affirmed.

"Yosh! It is not right to abandon him. As usual Gai-sensei is right!"

That's it, Tenten had enough. "WE ARE NOT EATING HOSPITAL FOOD!"

The trio continued to argue at each other for a few more minutes about whether or not it was okay to leave and grab a bite to eat and return to the hospital without waiting for the Hatake to regain consciousness when Neji finally uncrossed his arms and sighed. He walked over to his teammates and forcibly pulled Tenten away. "If you stop making a scene… I'll pay…" He offered.

"Neji? Did you just ask to buy me dinner?"

"Need I repeat myself senselessly?" The Hyuga retorted.

Tenten's eyes widened. "You did _not_ just ask me out on a date!" She stated, disbelieving.

Neji's pearlescent eyes narrowed. "No, I didn't," he agreed. "Don't push it. Now are you coming or not?"

Anko had been listening to this banter was chuckling to herself. "Damn Hyuga's are all the same…" She said under her breath, thinking his stance with his teammate reminded her of Tokuro a bit.

"Kiba?"

"Huh?" He replied glancing over at Naruto.

"Where's Akamaru…?"

The Inuzuka's eyes widened, jolting around the room.

* * *

Ino shifted her body, rolling over and adjusting the position of her head on a comfy yet unfamiliar pillow. She yawned as she opened her eyes and after a few seconds her brain seemed to notice something. She had no clue where the hell she was!

Suddenly sitting up, she examined the room while the adrenaline instinctively released. She was alone in the room for now… she obviously was lying on a bed, in a room that clearly belonged to one person. Based on the items and rather bland style of the room, not to mention the fact the closet wasn't shut completely and she caught a glimpse of a jacket that was most definitely not feminine the Yamanaka determined it was a male's room. Something about it seemed oddly familiar though. Why did it seem like she'd been here before?

Her heart bounced at the sound of the door opening and instantly she relaxed seeing Shikamaru step in. "Oh, Ino… you're awake."

She sighed. "Where are we?"

The Nara walked over to a minifridge pulling out a soda. "You want one?"

"Uh… sure." He reached lower and grabbed a second soda, shut the fridge and tossed the second can to her.

 _Oh! This is Shikamaru's! I haven't been in this room since we were little kids…_

"A gentleman would've asked what flavor I wanted," She teased.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "What's the point when I already knew what you were going to say?"

Ino looked down at the soda, seeing it was orange flavored and frowned. "How'd you know that?"

He sat down next to her, opening his root beer and taking a sip. "You always order orange soda," he reminded her dismissively.

That was true… As carefully as she watched what she ate and made the effort to keep her body exactly how she wanted it, she wasn't able to rid herself of her bad habit of drinking orange sodas. They were too damn good for her to give up. She actually thought it was kind of sweet that he noticed even though they only went out to eat together a few times before. Well, maybe a little more than a few…

"You've been asleep for a few hours," He told her.

She looked at him confused for a moment and tried to recall what happened. She remembered the mission… and "Kakashi-sensei!" She shouted jumping to her feet.

"I figured you'd want to go right away… I was waiting for you to wake up but you were taking so long I was going to just go on without you to see how he was. So I came upstairs just to make sure I didn't leave right when you got up," he explained.

 _He waited for me?_ "Come on! I bet Sakura thinks I'm a bitch and don't even care we're so late! Why didn't you wake me up?"

Shikamaru snorted. "I don't know, I didn't want to?" _Women. Can't do anything without a complaint of some kind… If I woke her up she would just complain about something else!_

Ino sighed. "Whatever, come on," She began to lead the way out and then remembered she didn't know his house.

The Nara smirked and walked passed her and she trailed just behind him. "Your jutsu worked by the way," he confirmed. "The Hokage sent a pair of ninja to help retrieve Kakashi-sensei and I don't know for sure but it might have saved his life."

She nodded hopefully. _That's right… that's why I fell unconscious…_ "Why was I here and not the hospital?" She asked as they left the Nara compound.

He shrugged. "You just needed to rest so there wasn't much point in taking you there, unless you wanted a hospital bill for nothing… Anyway, like I said I figured you'd want to go to the hospital the second you got up so I decided to just lay you down and wait."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense…"

* * *

Kiba remained calm as he stalked the halls following Akamaru's scent absentmindedly. It was easy to follow his companions scent as they were together so much, what he was really thinking about was what the hell the ninja-hound was doing? He never disappeared like that, and it's not like he can get lost with his nose.

As the scent grew near, he couldn't believe it. He heard Akamaru, and it sounded like he was with a feminine voice that was… giggling? He turned the corner and was stunned further. Akamaru was repeatedly licking the face of a very _pretty_ kunoichi he'd never seen before. She was tall with long black hair groomed to her lower back wearing a tan outfit and a pair of white and purple camo-pants with chain mail under the outfit making it look similar to how Anko dressed if not for those pants… In addition, she had a scarf around her neck that matched the pattern of the pants. On her forehead was a Leaf headband, which was important to take note of with the Chunin exams about to begin in about a week. It wasn't uncommon to come across foreign ninja this time of the year.

"Uh… hi," he greeted lamely.

She stopped her laughter and both she and Akamaru gazed at where the voice came from. "I see you met Akamaru," He quickly recovered, crossing his arms trying to not look like an idiot.

Akamaru barked and wagged his tail before leaping out of her arms and trotting over to his master. Kiba bent down and stared at the puppy. "Why'd you run off?"

The kunoichi flashed an apologetic smile, feeling stupid that she was caught enamored with someone else's ninja-hound because it was cute… She tried to hide the idiotic feeling by returning to what she was originally doing, turning her attention to the vending machine. After buying a cinnamon roll wrapped in plastic, she took one bite before zipping to the nearest garbage can and spitting profusely in unladylike fashion. _Great job!_ She sarcastically scolded herself.

Kiba chuckled. "I take it you don't want that?"

 _He wants it? After I took a bite? Ew_ "You can give it to Akamaru if you want… He'll eat anything!" He laughed, and the kunoichi smiled and went along with it. Why not? The frosting tasted like what she assumed to be the equivalent of deodorant. Sure enough, Akamaru didn't seem to care and licked his chops repeatedly after scarfing it down.

The kunoichi shook her head. "Well nice meeting you guys but I should probably get back in there," she gestured to a nearby room. "My idiot teammates are being tended to for some minor injuries. They should be good for the Chunin exams though, will I see you there?"

"Yeah, we're just a rookie team… But watch out!" He warned confidently.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Rookies? You don't have a chance!"

Kiba licked his lips in that weird fashion he picked up from his sensei which was needless to say strange to the kunoichi. "Don't underestimate us; we're not a normal team! I'm Kiba by the way…"

The kunoichi smirked. "Kin Tsuchi, and I sincerely hope you're not all talk cause people die in the Chunin exams you know."

"Ha, we'll see you there don't worry!"

"Bye…" She farewelled and vanished into the room she pointed out before.

"Come on, Akamaru." Now completely forgetting about how weird it was that Akamaru wandered off like that, deciding that was worth it to him, he began thinking about the Chunin exams as he made his way back to Anko and the others. _I hope Shikamaru's here so we can all discuss our plans for the exams._

* * *

Anko sighed, she was getting bored waiting. "Hey, kid you want to try some of this?" She asked raising the bottle she produced out of a scroll. "Sit down n' I'll pour ya a glass!" Naruto stared back conflicted.

After a moment of hesitation… "All right why not!"

"SENSEI! WE'RE 12!" Kiba shouted, deadpanned as he made it back to them with Akamaru resting in his hood.

Anko blinked a couple times, a blank expression on her face before something hit her. "Ohh! Damn it! I forgot that's illegal." Both Genin fell over in mortified disbelief.

Kiba recovered first, leaping back onto his feet and shouting at her again. "HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

Anko laughed and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Well as you know all shinobi, even rookie Genin are considered adults…"

"And we can't drink alcoholic beverages until we're sixteen," the Inuzuka finished, crossing his arms.

"Ah, but it wasn't always like that! The law used to be: _For shinobi are adults, all shinobi are allowed to consume alcoholic beverages from the moment they become Genin as long as they are in the company and supervision of a Jonin who appeals to their request. Their Jonin instructor can forbid them from drinking if they choose,"_ she recited, pausing to look at the gawking pair of Genin and continued on. " _Genin older than fifteen no longer require permission as it becomes their unquestioned right. Extremely young Chunin or Jonin only require Jonin supervision and permission until becoming fourteen,"_ She finished.

"Are you serious?" Kiba asked, never hearing of this before. Naruto gazed at her questioningly.

"Yeah, ask some of the other adults if you don't believe me…" she shrugged.

"Wait, so when did you start drinking? Anko-sensei?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Me? Well… I became a Genin at age ten but I had to 'earn' the right to drink so it wasn't until I was thirteen. But after Orochimaru gave me permission the first time I pretty much got to drink whenever I wanted as long as I was in his presence."

"What the hell? I can't believe they used to let that happen!" Kiba expressed.

Anko laughed. "Well when I think about it, yeah it's probably a good thing the law changed… but I'm glad they waited til' I was already too old to be affected! Sucks for those kids that lost the right because they weren't sixteen yet when the law changed!" She recalled.

Naruto appeared to have another question about this but didn't ask it because the trio was approached by two of the Genin they'd been expecting for awhile now. "Yo," Shikamaru greeted, analyzing their faces. "Judging by the looks I'm seeing, I'm not sure I want in on your conversation."

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Kiba muttered.

"Forget about that! How's Kakashi-sensei?" Ino demanded.

"He's going to be fine we're just waiting for him to wake up," Anko answered.

Ino eased up and plopped into the chair next to her lazy friend and sighed with relief much like many of the others did earlier. "Thank goodness… Maybe I should be happy I was asleep," she giggled. "I don't know how I would've handled sitting here not knowing like you guys!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah but now we have to put up with more waiting, such a drag…"

"Stop complaining! He could've died!" She scolded him.

 _He would've died if Tsunade hadn't happened to return to the village in the same day… I wonder why she came back._ Anko thought to herself.

"I know, I know! But unlike you I've been awake like the rest of them! So I'm a little tired of sitting around," Shikamaru defended himself.

"What took you guys so long, anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Sleeping beauty," He replied in a sarcastic voice but Kiba and Naruto exchanged a suspicious glance indicating they didn't think he was annoyed one bit.

"I'll… be back in a minute," the Yamanaka trailed off walking towards Sakura who was sitting by the window alone in that moment. Each of the Genin seated over there paused in thought as they watched her approach her nemesis willingly without malice for a change. Anko and Yugao however, were engaged in their own conversation, whispering.

"So, what do you think? You want to try becoming a Jonin sensei?"

"No," Yugao laughed. "Half of these kids would give me a headache, starting with the Uchiha and the Hyuga brats."

Anko gave a knowing smirk. "Oh you have no idea… I went on a mission with all of these kids and most of them have a grudge against one of the others."

"Sakura!" She called out to her. Not 'billboardbrow', not 'forehead girl,' but actually Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi looked at her with a mildly shocked look on her face at first but shrugged it off. "I talked to the others about Kakashi-sensei… but I didn't ask them how you were."

"I'm fine," She replied bitterly.

"I'm not talking about injuries, Sakura. You know what I mean…" She of course was referring to how Sasuke treated her before she departed with the wounded Kakashi and the disgusting things he said about his own teammate.

"Do you actually care?" She asked bluntly.

Ino sighed. "Yes. If there's something I can do with you or help you with just let me know all right?" She offered and turned to head back to Anko and the others.

"You're not going to ask where _Sasuke_ is?" Sakura's bitter tone returned.

Ino glanced back at her teammate. "No, I'm not… Because I don't care." She stated, leaving a stunned Sakura in silence and she reclaimed her seat by Shikamaru. _Wow, did I just tell Sakura I didn't care where Sasuke is?_ After a moment of thought, Ino realized she truly felt what she said. She was disgusted with her male teammate at the moment, and in all honesty… She was getting tired of him ignoring her attempts to get his attention anyway. She used to think he was just shy or too prideful to show interest in a girl but now she was beginning to think he was neither, and actually just an asshole; the incident in the mission seemed to confirm the theory.

"Yugao, did Tsunade give an explanation as to why she'd come back to the village? She picked one hell of a good time to do so… But what was her actual reason?" Anko inquired.

"We don't know. Kotetsu and Izumo thought her and Shizune Kato to be imposters and arrested them."

Anko nearly fell out of her seat laughing at that revelation. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope," Yugao assured, holding back her own amusement. "I don't know what happened afterwards because of Hayate and I's assignment… But Lord third put her in charge of saving Kakashi right away. There's no telling what's going on."

Anko nodded in understanding. "Well that's interesting…"

* * *

 _"_ _That's right… little more to the left honey… c'mon…" A pervert whispered to himself as he peeped on women in the hot springs. The said pervert was ripped from his spot having been stealthily approached by another ninja, whom decided to throw him through the wall and into the springs themselves, splashing water that hit all the relaxing beauties._

 _Now, normally Jiraiya wouldn't complain much about this. I mean sure, he was not walking out of here without being battered and bruised by angry females, not to mention the kunoichi among them liked to leave deep and painful cuts in various spots on his body via kunai. But in the end, none of that mattered… What pervert wouldn't enjoy being injured by a horde of naked women? Besides, some of them lost their towels during the assault and that made this all very worth it to the Sannin._

 _However, there was one little problem… the person who launched him in the wall was very strong and he knew it had been a woman's hands because he was a weirdo that could tell no matter how brief the contact was or the fact she gripped him very tight and painfully when she lifted him. The only woman that strong could be…_

 _"_ _I hope you've been enjoying yourself you stupid pervert!" A very familiar voice mocked. This was exactly as Jiraiya feared! He jerked his head up and ignored all the angry… beautiful… naked… Focus focus!_

 _"_ _Tsu-Tsunade!?" He yelped._

 _"_ _I'm back," She said simply and her ex-teammate was then given the beating of his life by the others._

Jiraiya sighed thinking about how his evening played out. "You didn't have to announce your return to the village by trying to kill me you know," He stated bitterly.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Would you even _care_ if you died beating pummeled by a crowd of naked women?"

Jiraiya opened his mouth to answer but then stopped to think about it. "Good point," he conceded. "Now that you mention it, in one of my books I killed the main character off in the end by having his execution take place in a coliseum, being skinned alive by naked women in front of the cheering crowd! It was the end of a great series."

Tsunade sighed. "Where's your liquor cabinet?"

Jiraiya pointed towards the cupboard above the fridge. "I'm actually pretty low I've been away from the village frequently."

She retrieved a bottle and poured them both a glass, sitting down across from him at the dining table. "So, how've you been? It has been a long time," She prompted.

"Oh I'm doing fine… Just can't seem to stay in the village because I have to carry out some highly classified spy missions for sensei."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Spy missions? Any of them correlate to Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya blinked. "What do you know?"

"Not much, he managed to get a message to me that he was undercover and ordered to kill me, and requested that I come here to lure his 'associates' to the village."

"So that's why you're here…" Jiraiya scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Sensei hasn't answered any of your questions?"

"No, but that's because he's supposed to tomorrow. Instead of going through this Orochimaru business today, I got stuck saving someone in the hospital," she groaned irritably.

Jiraiya laughed. "Well, you're still unsurpassed in medical ninjutsu, if sensei asked you to do that it must have been a very serious situation."

"It was," she admitted. "There's no way that guy would've survived otherwise, so I didn't have much of a choice."

"Well, it all started when…"

Jiraiya spent an hour recalling important events that had gone down in the Hidden Leaf since her departure. He spent some time explaining how Minato became Hokage but died saving the village from the ninetails. He went into great detail when covering Orochimaru's stunts against the foundation and the fact he had taken on a Genin team prior to it and his bond with Anko. After that, he told her the tale of the Uchiha massacre and how after Itachi was forced to commit those atrocities he chose to join the Akatsuki to see if he could prevent them from achieving any of their goals. Then, he explained everything they knew about the Akatsuki and Orochimaru's mission along with his façade status as a rogue ninja.

"The Akatsuki mostly travel in pairs. Orochimaru and Itachi are conveniently partners, and for a long time neither knew they were both spies. Itachi began to suspect it, but did not know for sure until he finally took a risk and confronted him about it. That's how we've come back into contact with him, and now the two of them are united within the organization. We'll take them down inside-out!" Jiraiya declared.

"But you don't even have a plan?! Do you?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Orochimaru or Itachi might…" I only have a supporting role in all this.

Tsunade thought about everything he'd told her and realized something. "So they're coming after my bounty? He said he'd been ordered to in the message… But that must mean the Akatsuki are suspicious of them!"

Jiraiya stared thoughtfully into space and nodded. "Perhaps you're right Tsunade, but if they come into the Leaf village they'll be able to make contact with us and also use excuses to buy themselves time with the Akatsuki leader. For them to kill you within the village, it would have to be done cautiously, the two of them can't fight a village by themselves. You should stay with me or in the Sarutobi compound. Actually, as much as I'd enjoy your company, it would be wise to stay at sensei's because the presence of a Hokage and a Sannin plus ANBU is a very understandable excuse for them not to engage."

"Damn you Orochimaru… making me move back into the village for lord knows _how long_!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Maybe you should make it a permanent arrangement…"

"No way," she scoffed.

"C'mon Tsunade, it'll be just like old times!"

"Old times? Wonderful… I get to deal with you hitting on me everyday again." This erected laughter from her fellow Sannin and she couldn't help but allow a faint smile of her own to escape her.

* * *

Kakashi had awoken for a short while, but already resumed his rest. They kicked everyone out except his Genin, Sakura and Ino. The two of them had not spoken since their brief conversation earlier that night and both seemed content with silence as their sensei laid safely in his bed, supposedly in no danger for his life anymore. Both kunoichi were relieved but felt compelled to spend the night in the hospital, which they were allowed to do as his students.

"Ino…"

"Yes, Sakura?" the blonde replied.

Sakura blinked. _She did it again._ Not once since Ino arrived at the hospital had she been called billboard brow or any other various derogatory term. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier."

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean it?" Ino stared at her thoughtfully, trying to pinpoint what part of their conversation she was referring to exactly. "That you didn't care where Sasuke was…" Sakura elaborated.

Ino frowned. "Yes, he's… Well he's a jerk. I know you and I fight all the time and most of it was because of wanting to be with him… but…" Ino began to struggle to finish the thought.

"But now we got what we wanted? Now we _both_ got to be with him, though not exactly how either of us imagined and he's treated us like dirt?" Sakura offered, and Ino nodded.

"I'm… surprised that you'd turn on him now. He hasn't done anything like that to you, yet."

"Yeah I know," Ino agreed. "But that doesn't matter! I can't let him treat you like that, you're my teammate!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "So? Being teammates hasn't brought us together in the slightest!"

"Ahem," A nurse coughed entering. "Quiet down please, or you won't be spending the night," he threatened.

"Sorry," Ino apologized for her. "We're working some things out… But I promise we will!" The nurse begrudgingly left them again.

"Sakura, we used to be best friends, right?" Sakura nodded. "Well guess what? We're both total idiots! We fell for the same boy… and constantly went after each other over it just so we could both find out he's an asshole. How many times has he hurt us since team seven was formed?" She asked rhetorically. "And how about now? He hasn't even shown up for Kakashi-sensei!"

"He did, but… he decided to leave for awhile and asked me to let him know when Kakashi woke up." Sakura corrected.

"And you refused?" Ino's face brightened. "Ata girl!" It was so strange to Sakura, watching Ino be angry and Sasuke and support her. It was as if the world was playing a cruel joke on her.

Ino smirked at the pink haired kunoichi. "Sasuke is the rift that split us apart…" she began. "But now, it's Sasuke's actions that are going to bring us back together!" She decided. " _We_ need to get over Sasuke, and _we_ need to start being friends again… and real teammates."

Sakura stared at her for a moment with hesitation. Not that she disagreed mind you; she simply had a hard time trusting the girl that had been her rival for so long now. Eventually, she smiled back. "Right."

 ** _A/N:_** **Why is Kin a Leaf ninja? And why did she seem friendly? Well as you all know the Village Hidden in the Sound does not exist in this story, she's nicer because she's had a better life growing up in the Leaf. How she wound up in the Hidden Leaf will be something to touch up on in a minor flashback in a future chapter.**

 **Whereas this chapter was a barrage of characters, the next chapter is Anko and Shikamaru-centric. There'll be a good amount of the other two team six members but well, you'll see. Orochimaru and Itachi are also up to something.**

 **Update as soon as I can!**


	17. A Nara's Gift and the Curse

**Chapter 17: A Nara's Gift and the Curse**

"If that is all, then all of you with the exception of Anko are dismissed," The third Hokage told them, but Tenten raised a hand. "Yes?"

"What about that Kisame guy's sword? Samehada?" She asked, raising a storage scroll.

"Ah yes, I forgot…" Sarutobi admitted. "If no one has any objections, then I suppose it is up to your sensei if you wish to keep it and learn to use it. What do you say, Gai?"

Gai gave one of his weird toothy grins and lunged his thumb out into the air, making the Hokage sigh in exasperation. "Of course she can! Tenten burns with the POWER OF YOUTH!" He exclaimed and Tenten's face became so red one would think it was a literal statement. Though she knew this was a compliment… It was still awful watching your sensei do _this_ in front of the Hokage and her peers. Neji's eyes locked shut with irritation.

"I bet if she trains hard enough… trains as hard as Lee! She will MASTER the legendary sword and-"

"GAI! Shut it! The Hokage is busy today," Anko interjected.

"But of course!" Gai stated. "My apologies Lord Hokage," He offered making another thumbs up.

"Its fine, Gai," He assured, but he didn't say it soon enough because Gai didn't even hear him.

"I VOW TO RUN THREE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE AS PUNISHMENT FOR MY FOOLISHNESS!" He declared and leapt out the window.

"Sensei! He _hasn't_ dismissed us yet!" Tenten shouted but Gai could no longer hear her.

"I will join Gai-sensei! So he does not bare his punishment alone!" Lee decided and everyone stared at him dumbly. "I do this, not only for Gai-sensei! But also because punishment is rewarding in itself! All of those laps are bound to increase my stamina!" He shouted to no one in particular and leapt out the window to catch up to his mentor.

"Idiot," Neji muttered.

The Hokage sighed. Gai's eccentricities were not easy to deal with… And he was glad that he would be either retired or _dead_ by the time young Lee made Jonin to do this. "Everyone except Anko may leave now."

A moment later, the Genin of teams seven, six, and nine filed out of the room. Kakashi was still in the hospital, as this was the following morning in which the members of the mission had to debrief. When she heard the doors shut behind her Anko was about to say something when she realized the Hokage wasn't looking at her, but _passed_ her. His questioning gaze was focused on another which she was surprised to find Shikamaru still slightly behind her. "Shikamaru? Get your lazy ass out of here."

The Nara's face was serious, more serious than Anko could recall seeing it. "No."

Sarutobi folded his hands staring at the boy with interest. "What is it, Shikamaru?"

It unnerved Anko to see her student look so… intense. He was sweating slightly, had a cold facial expression of stone and she could tell his teeth were tightly closed together. "I want to know what's really going on," He finally answered. "Before you give me a speech about how I'm just an inexperienced, twelve year old Genin… And that it's none of my concern, I'll tell you what I've already figured out. Then, you can decide what to say."

Anko didn't say it, but she had to admit she felt a sting of pride in what he said, even if she didn't want him to know anything about what he was likely about to dive into. What she found pride in… Was that he wasn't afraid or intimidated by being alone with her and the Hokage, and actually had the nerve to talk like he was in control of the conversation. Very few people would be so assertive when speaking to a Kage, and most of them became excellent shinobi.

"Very well," Hiruzen permitted.

Anko gulped nervously awaiting her Genin to say something she didn't expect him to know as he slipped his hands comfortably in his pockets. "The rumors always said Orochimaru committed 'crimes against humanity,' and went rogue. The rumors varied quite a bit so I can't get more specific than that, but nothing I have ever heard makes him sound like a bounty hunter," He began.

Anko hearing her sensei's name widened her eyes a little but the reaction vanished as quickly as it came. "That Kakuzu was clearly a bounty hunter, his companion not so much… So I can infer the Akatsuki organization has a larger goal, that requires money to support, which is why they're sending those two after people," He deducted.

Hiruzen had to admit, he was impressed at how easy this all came to a mere Genin, and that he pieced these details together during an intense _mission?_ Definitely a Nara, no doubt about it.

"So after coming to those conclusions… I spent some time trying to figure out what kind of role someone like Orochimaru would fit and what motive he would have. Determining a motive without knowing the goal and purpose of the organization is impossible, and knowing Orochimaru is one of the most skilled shinobi in the world makes it too difficult to settle on a role he might have in the organization." Anko and Hiruzen continued to listen, amazed that so far everything he said was spot on considering the information he had to work with.

"And then I got to thinking… I see Anko-sensei just about every day," he stated gesturing the Jonin beside him. "If anyone should be able to dig into this it would be her. So I decided I'd talk to her about it today, even though I know she dislikes speaking of him. That thought lead to me considering all the times she mentioned him…"

Anko raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying, Shikamaru?"

"Aside from your banter with Kakuzu… You've never shown any hatred or resentment to the man who supposedly betrayed you and the village. You bring him up in training from time to time when it serves a purpose, but otherwise you avoid his name. The thing about that I find bizarre is that in spite of that, you never actually show animosity or disgust when discussing him. Perhaps it's out of respect, but I'm starting to wonder…"

"Are you accusing me of being a spy for him or something!?" Anko blew up.

"No!" Shikamaru brought his hands up defensively. "I just… I just don't get it, I'm missing something here and I want to know what it is! You started wearing those earrings," He pointed out, gesturing the nine shaped jewelry she received as a gift from her sensei.

"So?" She challenged, crossing her arms.

"So… Remember when you invited our team over for dinner that one time? After the second C-rank mission? You have pictures on the wall of you, Orochimaru and your Genin teammates. In each of those pictures… Orochimaru wore identical earrings to the ones you're wearing. You didn't start wearing those until recently and you claimed they were a gift."

 _Why does he have to be so smart?_ Anko was at a loss for words, how did he pick up on all of that? The Nara wasn't done, for someone so lazy, he really thought hard when analyzing all of this. "The last piece of the puzzle for me is that you're very proud of your jutsu arsenal, and you should be," he admitted. "You favor the snake jutsus and even insisted on making that a focal point in our team's training not to mention the summoning contracts… But all of this is directly tied to Orochimaru's style."

"I learned from him! What's so surprising about that? You're over-thinking this!" Anko defended as Sarutobi watched on in awe.

"Maybe," He agreed. "But everything I just said seems to point to you not really hating Orochimaru. You've mentioned on a few occasions that acting is an important skill for a shinobi and that Orochimaru emphasized on it; I think that's what you were doing with Kakuzu and I don't think you hold any hatred or resentment for your sensei. But considering the atrocities he supposedly committed, that makes no sense," He paused and looked her in the eyes.

"I _know_ you Anko-sensei, and I know you would be ashamed of him and hate him with every fiber of your being if any variation of the rumors I've heard were true! So what's _really_ going on? Orochimaru didn't really do those things did he?" He accused turning to the third.

Anko and Sarutobi stared at him incredulously. This kid was unreal.

Hiruzen began to chuckle and soon enough the chuckling transformed into full on laughter. Anko and Shikamaru, teacher and student just stared at him disbelieving. After Sarutobi had a chance to compose himself he looked at the Genin with an appreciative smile. It wasn't everyday a mere twelve year old partially unraveled an S-Class secret with very little to go on.

"How about we discuss this over dinner tonight. You're both invited, of course," He offered shifting his eyes to Anko reassuringly.

Shikamaru seemed stunned. Did the Hokage just invite him to _his_ house? "Uh-h Yeah sure. I'd be honored," He uncharacteristically stuttered.

"I'll expect you both there at six o'clock then," He decided with a grandfatherly smile.

Shikamaru nodded, still surprised that telling them all of that earned him a dinner, hopefully with explanations to follow. Anko released a deep sigh. "I'll see you at training Shikamaru, there are some things I have to go over with the Hokage."

"Right," he stated in understanding and left.

Anko turned her full, disgruntled attention to Sarutobi who was still smiling. "Relax Anko, it's your own Genin, there's nothing to worry about."

"But-"

"It's all right," The third insisted. "We'll tell him," he told her, provoking a pair of widened eyes. "You trust him don't you? He's not going to stop if we brush him off; it's clear that he'll eventually piece everything together when he learns more about both the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Let's put our faith in him to keep quiet." Anko nodded uncertainly.

"We don't have to tell him _everything_ , just… pertinent information about your sensei."

* * *

"Enough of your bickering!" Baki, the Sand Jonin demanded.

"Hey, it's her fault!" Kankuro insisted, gesturing his elder sister whom decided to smack him. "Ow! What the hell Temari!"

"Would you just listen to sensei and shut up!"

"Gaara, help me out here, would ya?"

The redhead ignored his siblings foolish request and turned his head at the sound of something in the trees. "You noticed it too," Baki commented.

"Noticed what?" Temari asked, suddenly becoming more alert, Kankuro doing the same.

A voice chuckled from the shadows but before the Sand outfit could pinpoint the man, two shinobi emerged from their hiding place and landed before them. "Well well, they're good," one of them commented.

The duo wore black cloaks with a pattern of red clouds outlined throughout it. Both had long black hair though styled in a completely different nature. It was also noted that both wore Hidden Leaf handbands with a line cut across their villages emblem. _Rogue ninja._ What was truly frightening however, was that Baki recognized both of them. The pale one was without a doubt, the Legendary Sannin himself, Orochimaru. And the other? He was fairly certain they were dealing with the infamous Itachi Uchiha, known for slaughtering his own clan and abandoning the village…

"Who the hell are you guys?" Kankuro shouted.

Orochimaru adjusted his hair as to remove it from his sight. "No need to get hasty now… We're not here to fight you. We just need to conduct a little business with you, that's all."

"We're not interested!" Temari declared with defiance, noticing the slashes through their headbands.

"But you haven't heard our offer yet," Orochimaru insisted. "In exchange for your cooperation, we'll give you everything you wish to know about Sasori of the Red Sand's current whereabouts and affiliation."

Baki and Kankuro instantly tensed at the name Sasori. "Why are we expected to trust rogue ninja?" Gaara commented without emotion, crossing his arms out of habit.

The Sannin smirked. "Because no one else in the entire world would hand over that information."

Temari snorted. "You're bluffing! Too good to be true, see you in hell!" She declared and swung her fan at them jumping straight to the third moon. Baki scowled at her for making a reckless move like that but didn't say anything as the powerful gale ripped through both rogue's bodies which strangely dispersed into a flock of crows. Temari's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "What?!"

"You're already under my Genjutsu," Itachi calmly explained, as some of the crows formed the heads of him and Orochimaru, floating in midair.

Baki cringed. Itachi Uchiha's Genjutsu was not breakable. It would be boarder lining the impossible to do so if he was really serious. Even worse, it was so subtle you always figured it out when it was too late.

"Itachi, I believe that is the onetail Jinchuriki among them, son of the Kazekage."

Itachi's floating head nodded. "All three of them are the Kazekage's children actually."

"What is it you want from us?" Baki asked grimly.

"Like I said, cooperation," Orochimaru repeated. "We're not the scum you believe us to be, and there are people in the Hidden Leaf we need to come into contact with. However, we cannot enter the village appearing like ourselves."

"That is why we need you. Two of you will enter the Chunin exams, and I will enter in disguise as one of you," Itachi cut in. "Orochimaru will pose as you," he directed to Baki.

"The Hidden Leaf didn't know about your Jinchuriki status until my association with the Akatsuki came about; if you wish to keep your secret, Itachi will pose as him."

"What? No way! Gaara's not missing out on Chunin for your sake, none of us are!" Kankuro defied, drawing an amused snort from the Sannin.

"Are you telling me the infamous Itachi Uchiha, an _S-Class_ ranked fugitive isn't capable of making Chunin for him?" Kankuro facepalmed at the point he neglected.

"This is ridiculous! How do either of you expect to pass as Gaara? As if you couldn't look like him without a transformation jutsu which you wouldn't need our help with," Temari refuted.

"The Leaf is an ally of the Sand; I will not assist their rogue ninja in infiltrating the village!" the Jonin established.

"This infiltration is for the benefit of the Leaf, but I'm afraid I can't fill in the lines for you."

"If you refuse to cooperate, we'll still proceed with our plan," Itachi warned. "We've given you a fair offer; the Hidden Sand has longed to find Sasori. And what we've asked for in return is a menial reward for such information. One way or another, we're entering the village and we've already decided to use your team."

"If we let you go, you would warn the Leaf, and that could put the Hokage in a difficult position," Orochimaru considered aloud. "On the other hand, leaving you somewhere trapped in a Genjutsu mysteriously in the land of fire when dealing with the Kazekage's children could strain Leaf and Sand relations, equally unacceptable."

Silence shrouded the stunned Sand team for a few moments as the two floating heads of Leaf ninja surrounded by crows gazed at them expectantly. "If what you claim is true, that you're not enemies of the Leaf… And that you have information about Sasori, why would you tell us all of that and risk it? You just proved you know that you could do this without our cooperation. And like you said, any chance of escape ended the moment we were snared into Itachi's Genjutsu," Baki analyzed, his Genin team listened intently, more confused than he was.

Orochimaru and Itachi shared a glance before the Sannin answered. "It's polite to ask allies for help as opposed to forcing their hand, and also… I _want_ the Hidden Sand to deal with Sasori as an added bonus. What better way to get rid of him than dropping such sensitive information into the lap of the Kazekage's own children?" He smirked.

Sasori was in the Land of Fire, but not accompanying the Uchiha and Snake Sannin because of Itachi's agreement with Pein about Akatsuki member's entering the Hidden Leaf. Only Itachi and Orochimaru (when in Itachi's presence) were allowed to go there and Pein reluctantly abided to his end of the bargain. Their lead to Tsunade was completely true, and if their fellow Akatsuki were looking into things (ignoring the agreement with Itachi to investigate) they would know she was indeed back in the Leaf.

The Akatsuki double agents had worked out a perfect plan to infiltrate the village and had numerous excuses to explain why it would take them so long to actually fulfill their assignment in slaying Tsunade. They both knew this was Pein's way of telling trying to force them to show their colors. Are they Akatsuki? Or Leaf ninja? That was why Tsunade was chosen as the target after all.

After successfully warning his fellow Sannin and thankfully she listened and did as he requested in returning to the village, he and Itachi would use the excuses to spend time in the village, where the two of them could easily communicate with the Hokage and Orochimaru's other contacts and plan their next moves. It was clear that there would be no way to fool Pein, which meant they would indeed have to bring their treachery against the Akatsuki into the light. However, they wouldn't do so at a disadvantage, that would be foolish.

"I don't trust either of you," Gaara stated blandly. "But we will cooperate." His siblings appeared to disagree with their hearts content but didn't dare oppose.

"Gaara!" Baki grunted.

"There is nothing we can do," Gaara explained. "If we cooperate then perhaps it will benefit us in the end, if we don't… they get what they want anyways."

Everything seemed to be going as Orochimaru planned…

* * *

Team six had just undergone a three hour training period, they didn't go all out, nor did they only have 'light' training. Anko decided that with such a short time period remaining before the Chunin exams, they weren't going to learn much more or improve dramatically in any area and so they shouldn't push themselves too far. If they train hard but manage to be mostly fresh when the exams begin, training fatigue will not hinder their abilities. The rookie Jonin instructor planned on giving her team every tiny little edge she could think of, even if she slyly broke some of the rules that applied to a Jonin instructor and the information they were permitted to share with the Genin.

"We have ONE week to finish preparing you for the Chunin exams!" Anko reminded, her Genin each stood before her determined. Well, two of them were, the other was just more motivated than usual.

"I am not allowed to tell you what lies ahead of you in your first attempt at entering the exams, but I can assure you that _everything_ you do is a part of the test."

Kiba scoffed. "That's real helpful sensei…"

Anko licked her lips in that bizarre fashion her Genin were unintentionally gaining as their own shared quirk, slowly. "You misunderstand… I mean what you may not perceive as part of the exam is actually is. The Chunin exams change every time since so many people take the test numerous times. Some proctors have hidden parts of the test you're unlikely to pick up on."

"So… What if we don't pick up on it?" Naruto queried and Anko shrugged.

"Then you blew a portion of the test, fortunately for you the hidden elements of the exam aren't the most important. However, catching them is useful because it's like earning bonus points to make up for something you already screwed up."

"You make it sound like a written test…" Shikamaru groaned.

"Well, I can't tell you if there's a written test as a portion of the exams or not. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not allowed to say," She reiterated but the subtle wink did not go unnoticed by any of the three.

"The next thing you all have to remember is that different portions of the exam judge you differently. Some parts you will be analyzed as a team, and sometimes as an individual. Recognizing which portions are perceived as team and which are individual is another advantage." The young trio took her advice in thoughtfully.

She clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "Now, bearing in mind that there are portions that analyze you as a team what can you infer?"

"We're allowed to work as a team for part of the exam?" Shikamaru presumed.

" _Perhaps_ ," She replied, but the emphasis her tone conveyed made it clear that the answer was yes. "And can anyone remind everyone what your occupation is?"

The three of them stared at her dumbly as if wondering if that was somehow a trick question. "…Ninja…"

"Yup, and what are ninja known for?" The three of them each had answers but they were trying to determine which one she wanted. "Okay okay, I know we're known for a lot of things. But, why are ninja ideal for an assassination or an infiltration mission?"

"We're trained for those things…?" Naruto supplied and Anko rolled her eyes.

"More specifically?"

After another pause… "Stealth?" The Inuzuka figured.

"Yes, exactly! Stealth."

"But what does that have to do with the exam? How does that help us?"

Anko laughed. "I can't tell you, Naruto." The deadpanned Genin pouted at how careful she was being with her hinting. "I've given all the advice I can think of at the moment, so I suppose you're dismissed. See ya tomorrow." The last part was for Naruto and Kiba, as they had no idea she and Shikamaru would have dinner with the Hokage later that night.

Kiba's stomach growled at that moment and Akamaru have him a knowing whine and he chuckled. "Just cause training's over doesn't mean we have to go just yet! How about we all go out for dinner? I'm sure Naruto's in sooo as long as Shikamaru isn't too busy with _Ino_ that is," Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes at yet _another_ implication made by his teammate. "What do you say Anko-sensei?"

"Uh.." She hesitated. She knew with the Hokage's dinner suddenly on her schedule there was no way she should eat elsewhere or she wouldn't be able to eat enough and failing to eat much when formally invited by someone was rude. Of course, Anko was hardly one to fear being rude and would normally say 'screw it I'm eating with my Genin' but when her host was a Kage? That changes things just a bit.

"Sorry, I've got a… a date!" She lied. Kiba and Naruto failed to pick up on it but Shikamaru gave a questioning look before realizing she just couldn't tell them and was suddenly glad he kept the dinner invitation to himself as well.

Naruto laughed. "It's not _Genma-_ sensei is it?"

 _"_ _No!"_ She snapped. "Never again! You still owe me a lot more than you think you do for that favor!" Naruto and Kiba laughed at her instinctive anger until she finally gave in and laughed as well. Giving them a farewell smile, she took off first.

"C'mon let's get some ramen!" Naruto shouted with the same excitement Rock Lee held for training.

Kiba's eyes gazed at him threateningly. "Hell no! Akamaru and I need some _meat!"_

"Guys, I can't come. It's a drag, but I'm working on a jutsu with my dad… Later," He lied, heading the opposite direction with his hands in his pockets.

* * *

"You're a terrible Jonin-sensei," A bitter voice stated, appearing beside her suddenly.

She rolled her eyes. "How long were you watching, Toke?"

He instantly scowled at the stupid nickname that she would never cease to use for him no matter how many years passed on. "Long enough to see that you just came as close as you possibly could to _cheating."_

She cast her former Genin teammate a sideways glare. "Oh please! I didn't do shit, they have to put the pieces together on their own. If they keep the things I said in mind, they will figure things out during the exams, and that's what I want. There's nothing wrong with encouraging my team to _think_ during the tests."

Tokuro Hyuga snorted at her excuse. "If your team was worthy you wouldn't have to. Watch my team in the exams, and maybe then you'll finally rethink the way you _act_ and figure out how to teach them."

Anko stopped walking and gave him her full attention in a heated glare that would melt most shinobi away in fear. "Shut up Toke! You're never around me anymore, so you're not allowed to judge my abilities individually or as my team's mentor. If you're here just to insult me and challenge my team in a battle of superiority with yours that has _two years_ more experience than them… Then you can fuck off and stay away from me another… what, seven months?"

"Eight. If not for hearing you were assigned a team and planned to enter them in the exams, I would've continued to keep my distance," He told her matter-of-factly.

"Whatever, try being distant right _now_ why don't ya?"

Tokuro smirked. "As you wish," he accepted and body flickered away.

Anko hated to admit it, but it pained her to be treated like that by her one time friend. For some reason, after Orochimaru's mission began he seemed to resent the man a lot more than before. It was understandable; he was a rogue ninja that committed horrendous acts in Tokuro's eyes… But what she could never comprehend was why his resentment towards Orochimaru carried over to Anko as well. He showed signs of being suspicious of her for awhile, once she even believed he may have been spying on her. It was then that she talked to Lord third and they had not been on a mission together since as they couldn't allow him to snoop around for the truth of things. Tokuro Hyuga was an arrogant man, like most Hyuga and like his fellow clansmen had a special eye for detail and that wasn't even considering the Byakugan.

She also hated to admit that it was unlikely team six could match Tokuro's team if they had two year's more experience. But then again team six wasn't ordinary… Not in the slightest. If all else fails, she knew she had to have the smartest Genin… considering what took place that morning in the Hokage's office. She was NOT looking forward to her dinner tonight.

"Looks like I have another goal in the Chunin exams… knock the smirk off of my ex-teammate's fucking face!" Anko declared to herself.

* * *

"HAHAHAHA!" Naruto lost control of himself, his drink spurting out of his nostrils unprepared for that unfortunate yet hilarious end to Kiba's story.

"She wouldn't talk to me over a week!"

"I bet!" Naruto cackled.

"Who wouldn't talk to you for a week?" A confident, interested, female voice cut in causing the two boys to turn to the pair of kunoichi that spotted them through the window passing by. Naruto felt something in his brain failing to register, was that… Ino _and_ Sakura. Together? Without Sasuke?

"Oh, hey Ino… Sakura. Just telling Naruto a humiliating story about my sister. You wouldn't find it as funny, being girls and all."

"Hmpt," she huffed feigning annoyance. "Do you guys mind if we join you?"

"Sure!" Naruto answered without the slightest hesitation. Ino gave Sakura a knowing smirk and sat next to Naruto in order to spare her newly reconciled friend the discomfort, much to the Uzumaki's disappointment. That of course meant Sakura sat beside Kiba, who waved at the waitress to inform her they needed more food for their unexpected company.

"Where's Shika?" Ino prodded causing both of the boys to smirk. "What?"

"Nothing…" Naruto dismissed. "He said he had some clan training to do and couldn't join us," Kiba explained but was taken aback by Ino's vast change of expression.

"Something wrong, Ino?" Sakura asked with concern in her voice that surprised Naruto and Kiba to no end.

"I asked if he wanted to hang out earlier and he said he was going to be _you two._ " In that moment one word passed through both of Shikamaru's teammate's minds. _Shit._

"If he didn't want to hang out he should've just said so, jerk!" She spat then turned her attitude around, pulling a cheerful façade over her pain. "So you guys getting ready for the Chunin exams?" She asked knowing the answer but wanting to shift off the previous subject. She was definitely going to tell him off later!

* * *

Shikamaru sighed for what was hardly the first time of the day. His dinner with the Hokage and his sensei was stressful. He knew there was more they could've told him, but respected their decision of what to reveal. To be a Genin and lawfully obtain some of the classified information he now possessed was an honor, but now he had to join Anko in carrying the burden of hiding what he knew.

 _So the Akatsuki is a group that wishes to capture all of the Jinchuriki._ He hadn't known what that even meant, when he asked they gave a detailed explanation of tailed beasts like the Kyuubi that had attacked the village about twelve years ago and how they were sealed within people not only for humanity's protection but also because the vessel could be trained to harness the power and use it to their village's advantage as a weapon. Of course, he already knew that Naruto was the ninetails' jailor, but the term Jinchuriki was foreign to him.

Shikamaru scratched his chin in thought as he continued his walk towards the Nara compound. _That means the Akatsuki will want to capture Naruto._ Suddenly, a whole lot of things made sense to him that he couldn't figure out before that dinner.

He had wondered why they didn't create an Ino-Shika-Cho formation this time around. Generally, the academy wasn't lucky enough for a member of each clan to be born in the same year and graduate so conveniently. That's why Ino-Shika-Cho Genin teams were extremely rare. Usually, they would be formed when three Chunin level members were united as a team by the Hokage varying in age though it was still likely they would be within a few years of one another.

However, everything _was_ that convenient this year. Him, Ino, and Choji had each came out this year and it seemed perfect. Now it all made sense. They explained that Orochimaru was a spy they baited into the Akatsuki, designating him as a rogue ninja through staged atrocities he never actually committed, and that Anko was his primary contact with the Leaf. The Akatsuki was after Jinchuriki, Naruto was a Jinchuriki and Anko was Orochimaru's contact and student. It clearly wasn't a coincidence that Anko was assigned Naruto.

But why Shikamaru? And why Kiba?

The Nara could only guess that they looked at all eight of the Genin other than Naruto and chose the two that they felt would be a good fit specifically for him, someone who at the time was the 'dead last'. Shikamaru wasn't one to gloat, nor an enthusiastic person, but he knew he was one of the best shinobi from his class, even if Anko liked to bitch about his taijutsu struggles all the time. Sasuke was the top graduate of the class, yet they didn't put him in the team as opposed to Kiba which he presumed wasn't because Naruto hated the Uchiha. Maybe Kiba was chosen because he was the best at taijutsu out of the class and since the Nara was hopeless at it they needed to balance it out? That seemed logical.

A second spy within the Akatsuki was mentioned, but they didn't want him to know who that person's identity. In a nutshell, his teammate was a target of an organization of rogue ninja that wanted to take over the world, and his sensei was the pupil of one of the spies that was trying to prevent any of that from happening. It was going to be hard keeping this all to himself… Even Naruto didn't know any of this apparently.

"Shikamaru!" A purple clad kunoichi shouted angrily as she realized who was passing by in the opposite direction she was going.

"Ino?"

"I just left your place."

"…And why were you there?" The Nara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I went out with Sakura and ran into _your_ teammates who told me you were training with the clan. _Ah… she caught me in a lie. What a drag…_

"So I went down there to tell you what an asshole you are for lying to me for no reason! And you weren't there either! They said you were with your teammates, which means you lied to them too… What the hell is going on with you Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. It was true, he lied to her. He lied to his parents. He lied to his teammates. The worst part was, he lied to all of them before the dinner, before he even received the burden of hiding the secrets he'd been entrusted with. He also could see Ino wasn't taking it very well after she figured it out.

Ino for her part had originally been hurt when she caught wind that he lied to her to avoid hanging out. But now that she knew he lied to everyone else too, it didn't sting so bad. Now she just wanted to know… Why? It wasn't like the Nara to go around lying to people, that was far too much trouble to him. If he was hiding something from all of them, it had to be something big…

Shikamaru sighed. "It's nothing all right? Just… Please don't tell anyone!"

Ino scowled. "Don't tell anyone? Let me in on the secret then."

"I… I can't! It's not up to me, okay?"

The Yamanaka rolled her eyes. "Whatever," She responded and began to brush past him but he grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around.

" _Ino!"_ She'd never seen him so… serious before. "You have to promise me, you won't tell anyone about this…" She stared into his eyes defiantly but her resolve diminished after a few seconds.

"Fine… Just answer me one question," she pleaded with slightly reluctant eyes.

"Depends on what it is."

The usually confident kunoichi hesitated slightly. "Is a _girl_ the reason behind this?"

The question struck him. He wasn't expecting that in the slightest, why did she care about that? Would she be offended if he didn't tell her that he was having secret rendezvous with someone? Girls could be so weird. "No, why would you think that?"

"I… don't know." She meant that, he noted the self confusion in her eyes. She really had no idea what put that thought in her head and the two of them awkwardly bid farewell and went their separate ways.

 _Why did I have to analyze everything so deeply? I didn't want all this responsibility and extra stress and potential work! It's far too much trouble… Why do the Nara's have to be so good at that sort of thing?_

* * *

"There it is," Orochimaru muttered, looking up ahead.

There was a time he loved his private lab so much that after being torn from it for so long he would've felt like shouting something stupid like ' _My beautiful lab!'_ Or God forbid he become so excited as to be foolish enough to say ' _Honey… I'm home!'_ to a fucking lab. But now, he felt nothing but a tingle of despair drifting in his gut somewhere. Bad memories would connect him and this forsaken lab together for eternity.

Orochimaru being the only one who knew where he was going, lead the way for the group consisting of himself and Itachi with the four Sand ninja. Just as they approached the lab doors, four ANBU landed between them seemingly out of nowhere. "Orochimaru! Surrender now or prepare to be eliminated."

"I thought you said you weren't against the Leaf!?" Kankuro chided.

"We're not," Itachi assured. "But not very many people know that."

"You said no one would be guarding this place!" Baki interjected.

Orochimaru chuckled. "These aren't Sarutobi-sensei's ANBU. These one's belong to the Foundation."

"The what?" Temari stated confused.

"Now's not a good time," Orochimaru drawled as the quad moved in on them and he and Itachi jumped into action.

"I'm taking one of them alive," The Uchiha informed as the two split up to combat in a pair of two versus one matches.

Baki watched on with conflicting instincts. On one hand, it was very bad for any trace of Sand ninja to be near a place where Leaf ANBU were slain. On the other hand, there wasn't a high chance of escaping. These ANBU were no match for the rogue Akatsuki's.

"Don't you think we should go, sensei?" Temari voiced.

"Yeah, seriously. This is not something we of the Hidden Sand should be involved in!" Kankuro agreed.

Baki watched as the Sannin's second victim dropped dead, and one of Itachi's opponents was suddenly screaming 'Release! Release!" frantically but having no success escaping what he assumed was an excruciatingly painful Genjutsu. The Uchiha managed to disarm the final ANBU and finished him off with the word: "Tsukuyomi." Upon stating that, the ANBU mysteriously stopped struggling to get away to find help and slumped against a tree, muttering things to himself.

Itachi and Orochimaru held a silent exchange of understanding and Itachi proceeded in what Baki could only assume was information extraction. "Come with me," The Sannin ordered the Sand foursome. He lead them to the lab door, finding that they changed the lock since he'd last been there. The Sannin raised an eyebrow. _Has Danzo been using my lab? Bastard._

"Allow me…" Gaara offered, pointing his hand at the lock and sending a miniscule wave of sand that inserted into the lock and turned it open, he then withdrew the sand and Orochimaru found he was able to open the door.

"Interesting ability," he commented, watching him control the sand with admiration.

The lab wasn't much different than he had last seen it, but there was a file of classified papers on the desk he found that appeared to belong to the foundation. _Information about their current project?_ He mused. _How convenient._

"What the hell are we doing here, exactly?" Temari asked impatiently.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Nothing to concern yourself with, my dear." Temari cringed at the wording and Kankuro laughed in her expense.

"Come," He urged and the Sand team followed suit.

Shutting the doors behind them, Orochimaru not caring about the lock for the first time ever to the contrary of his past paranoia, he led them around to a specific spot on the ground he bend down to search for. Itachi soon reunited with the rest of the group having learned what he wanted and killing the foundation ANBU off. He felt the ground out with his overly pale hand and eventually brought it to a stop. "There," He stated as a memory seemed to dawn on him.

The Snake Sannin ran his hands through a series of handsigns and slapped his palm on the ground, summoning a snake. "Lord Orochimaru!" It greeted, and the Sannin merely nodded in acknowledgement.

"Dig," He ordered simply, pointing the same spot he previously touched.

"Your wisssh is my command!"

A moment later the Sand team watched on puzzled as the snake worked its way into Orochimaru's secret tunnel system and he leapt down the hole. Even Itachi seemed mildly surprised, apparently his partner never shared this bit of information with him but he leapt after him and each of the Sand shinobi followed reluctantly.

"Mind telling us why in the hell you need us if you have _tunnel_ s under the Leaf village?" Kankuro sneered.

"It was never a matter of merely infiltrating my beloved village… We need to be able to walk among them freely. That is something neither of us can currently do," He sufficed.

"Lord Orochimaru? Do you require more of me?"

"Yes, I need you to hide the entrance again, once you're finished feel free to return home."

"You got it," the Snake assured.

"Splendid, I thank you for your services… Manda's not half as compliant," He complimented though he sounded annoyed when throwing in the last part. The Sand ninja were taken slightly aback as the snake laughed in agreement but didn't dare speak ill of the Lord of snakes.

"Originally, I planned for you two to remain in that lab, but it would appear one of my few enemies within the Leaf's hierarchy stationed those men there hoping I would come back someday."

"They just didn't count on you not being alone then huh?"

Orochimaru snickered at that statement, thinking about the night he planned to assassinate Danzo and wiped out so many of his ANBU in the process. "No, I don't think he was counting on them winning. He simply wanted to know when I was back; their deaths will do the explaining for him."

"Where are you taking them now?" Itachi inquired.

As much as he would prefer to bring them to his sensei's, he knew there would be ANBU watching over the residence and he was thought to be a rogue ninja, so it wasn't an option. He never had a tunnel for Anko's house because she hadn't moved out of her apartment until he had already began his mission spying on the Akatsuki. The other three passage ways he had were to what used to be his house and an unfinished one intended for Tsunade's before she abandoned the village, leaving him only one option.

"Jiraiya's."

 ** _A/N:_** **I hope you guys are finding all these developments interesting =) And now you can probably understand how important it was for me to include the Orochimaru flashback chapter… There was a mountain of reasons why, but it wound up impacting this chapter quite a bit too, eh?**

 **Getting close to the Chunin exams! I'm going to write 1… maybe 2… more chapters before starting them. R n' R please =)**


	18. The Chunin Exams Begin!

**Chapter 18: The Chunin Exams begin!**

 ** _A/N:_** **I stated I would write 1 or 2 chapters before starting the Chunin exams… but I thought things over a little more and re-organized some of my ideas. They start in this chapter =)**

 **Also I had a review voicing disapproval of Orochimaru defeating Jiraiya and also making it clear that Jiraiya appeared to be the strongest Sannin as an adult.**

 **Now… I gotta say, while it is true that Jiraiya fought with Pein's paths fairly well, I'd like to know why you would think Orochimaru or Tsunade… also Kage level shinobi (Or in Tsunade's case literally a Hokage in canon) are significantly below him or below him at all? Orochimaru is practically unkillable, people tried very hard to take him out throughout the series and somehow someway he was never completely killed.**

 **Tsunade can literally heal mostly any wound she suffers without handsigns after activating her 100 healings jutsu, and punches like a behemoth.**

 **How in the hell are either of them significantly below Jiraiya if you believe the Toad Sannin is the strongest? And I believe the two of them in their own way could also hang with Pein in a battle. Just my two cents**

 **Also you might want to remember that the Orochimaru/Jiraiya battle was supposed to fool the Akatsuki, it's not like either of them was really trying to kill the other.**

 **Enjoy!**

It was a starry night. The crickets were seemingly having a party and a light gust of wind shook the many trees of the Hidden Leaf village. It was three A.M, and aside from those with village security assignments, which were crucial during the time of the Chunin exams, most of the residents were asleep. An exception among these was Sasuke Uchiha.

He was slumped against a log in training area number twenty-three, panting vigorously and reaching for his canteen of water. He knew he should be asleep. The Chunin exams started the next morning, after all. His teammates strangely stopped fawning over him, which he was grateful for until he realized they strangely united against him, meaning his team still had no chance of progressing in its current state. _Why did Kakashi even bother nominating us? Those two suck; I know we won't last long in the exams! They're holding me back!_

Sasuke punched the ground scowling in the dark. _I can't sit here and be a weak little Genin for the rest of my life! Itachi was an ANBU captain just one year older than I am right now!_ Just thinking of _him_ fueled Sasuke's rage even further. _I have to get stronger! I have to destroy the Akatsuki! And I have to kill that bastard!_ At this point the young Uchiha was trembling with emotion.

Sasuke knew little about the Akatsuki but from their mission, he could see that they were unbelievably skilled shinobi, and that apparently his brother was a member of their organization. If Itachi's abilities were in the same league as Kakuzu and Kisame… He had a very long way to go… If only he could find a shortcut to get on par with them?

Unbeknownst to Sasuke a pair of vermillion eyes not unlike his own were watching from the gate. _You should rest, little brother. You have a long day tomorrow, yet you're choosing to tire yourself out now._ The man thought, analyzing the young Uchiha's chakra. Knowing there was nothing he could do in his disguise and not wanting to draw attention from any of the Leaf ninja on duty by wandering around in his Sand ninja attire, Itachi walked away, deactivating his Sharingan.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki finished getting dressed as he fastened his Leaf headband on even tighter than a chakra seal could as he smirked back at the mirror image of himself. "Get ready world…" He spoke confidently. "The future fifth Hokage becomes a Chunin today! Believe it!" With that, he left his cluttered apartment, grabbing his backpack just as he exited the door.

He excitedly took the rooftops, in a hurry to get things started, consciously scanning the streets for one of his teammates between leaps. Murmurs between civilians passed by about _that_ kid and how the _imbecile_ must've been back to his pranking, as well as how they felt sorry for whoever the victim was. After jumping to such conclusions some of them even expressed hopes that he will get punished or exiled soon.

Naruto ignored the fools, just because he was running didn't mean he was doing something wrong again. _That's okay, today is the second step towards making them acknowledge me!_ He reminded himself and the smirk never faded.

He stopped when he landed on top of Ichiraku's and dropped down next to a Shinobi he didn't recognize who glared at him, not appreciating the rude entrance but the Uzumaki ignored him. "Hey old man! I need some ramen to go this time, the Chunin exams are today ya know!"

Teuchi smiled kindly at him. "You heard him, Ayame!" She nodded and eagerly got to work. "As a token of good luck, it's on the house this time, Naruto!"

"Thanks a lot!" He beamed as she handed him a large cup of very hot ramen which he was forced to switch hands several times to not wince at the temperature it was at. _Stupid cups!_ _Oh well, at least they have a lid._ He considered, knowing he would've had to slow down significantly without one. After all, it was a crime to spill ramen.

"Naruto!" The Uzumaki heard faintly and halted on one of the rooftops. Momentarily, a Chunin joined him up there with a friendly smile.

"Oh, hey Iruka-sensei!"

"Hey Naruto, I just wanted to wish you good luck! I already ran into Kiba the other day and he told me that you guys were entering."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei! We're gonna make you proud, all three of us are going to make Chunin."

Iruka laughed. "I admire your confidence, but the last time three teammates made Chunin in the same year on their first attempt was when the Legendary Sannin passed."

Naruto smirked. "Then I guess it's a good thing we were taught by Orochimaru's best student."

Iruka's smile faltered slightly at the mention of Orochimaru but quickly brightened again. "Well, I don't want to keep you any longer… And again, good luck!"

The determined Genin nodded and leapt to the next building.

* * *

Four figures, two of them feminine, and two hooded males, competitively worked their way through the Inuzuka clan obstacle course. The course was designed to practice coordination and synchronization of Inuzuka shinobi and their ninja hounds while performing the 'Ninja art: Man Beast Clone' and often used by Genin and academy students that have long strides to make with their companions.

They were nearing the end of the course yet again, having done this countless times over the past week each of the quad seemed to evade the wrath of the kunai drops absentmindedly, however the two feminine figures did so with greater speed and increased their lead on the pursuing duo. The hooded figures shared a look and one nodded at the other.

They came to a stop on a tree branch and one latched onto the other's back. Meanwhile the carrier shot snakes out of each sleeve using them to quickly swing branch to branch pendulum style, making ground on their opponents easily. Seeing the next swing would put them ahead just before going through the final trap phase he retracted the snakes. "Now!" He shouted to his passenger who disembarked and the duo landed several steps in front of the snarling women gracefully before taking off in a full sprint.

The hooded figures locked their eyes shut as they entered the final area, which was blanketed in a fog of smoke. Like a true Inuzuka, this was the part they relied on their advanced hearing and sense of smell. The replica took point, his senses naturally the better of the two and the Inuzuka Genin behind him used his nose to follow his companion while listening for the sound of weapons. He expertly covered his ally, blocking each weapon he sensed coming without any problems and the two emerged unscathed, crossing the finish line.

"Yeah! It's about time we beat her, eh Akamaru?" The smirking replica transformed back into the puppy it was and wagged its tail.

"Idiot!" An angry female voice screeched and before Kiba could react he was punched across the face as Hana's clone transformed back into her companion.

"Ow," He complained, rubbing his red cheek. "Don't be a sore loser, sis!"

"You cheated!" She snapped.

"What!?"

"I never said you could use those snake jutsu!"

Kiba scowled. "You never said I couldn't!"

"Well I sure as hell ain't going to acknowledge _that_ as beating me on this course!" Hana stated. She was the one to recommend he spend his week of light training on the obstacle course, and came down to race him once each day. She had been undefeated against her little brother up until now.

"Oh yeah? Well I don't even need the snake jutsus to beat you with all the time we've spent here this last week!" He declared, gesturing Akamaru.

"Then why haven't you?" She mocked.

"Bahahahaha!" Another voice presented itself with amusement. "Settle down now, pups."

"Mom!" Kiba and Hana greeted with surprise.

"I just came to make sure you didn't lose track of time. You have an exam to take, so you better go now," Tsume explained. "Tick, tock."

"C'mon Akamaru!" He called out, turning the jets on as he realized after looking at his watch. He should have left eight minutes ago!

 _This is it! The Chunin exams… This is where we take the first step towards our goals Naruto… Shikamaru…_

* * *

Shikamaru Nara sighed as his destination came into view. Today was the big day… The start of the Chunin exams. The pineapple haired genius was beyond annoyed by the whole thing, it was such a drag! He didn't even want to make Chunin status. Higher status, more responsibility, increase in the danger of missions and more expected of you. This was not following his plan!

That's right; the Nara had pretty much his whole life planned out. He was supposed to be an average shinobi, Chunin at best later in his career, have two kids a boy and a girl, a wife that wasn't ugly but not too pretty, a decent house that wasn't too small nor too big and had a window that was perfect for cloud watching. He would eventually retire… and die off, not too young but not ancient, preferably before his wife passed away. That's all he wanted for a future… I nice normal and average life.

What was interfering with his plan, do you ask? Well, more like _who's_ interfering.

First there were his parents. Shikaku apparently feared he wouldn't try his hardest in the exams and actually talked to him about it. Shikamaru assured him he would but he must not have been convincing enough since after that his mom was suddenly pestering him to train everyday for the past week and telling him if he didn't make Chunin (on his first try… seriously…) that he would be punished and stuck doing _all_ the chores for a month. That is _a lot of work!_

 _Women…_ He sighed thinking about it.

Then, there was Ino. She, like his parents, didn't expect him to put forth his full effort without a nudge in the right direction. She warned him if he didn't become Chunin, she would. And if she was a Chunin she would intentionally take missions he would find troublesome and pick him to be a part of the team as long as he was still a Genin, whenever she had the option to.

 _Women…_ He sighed again.

Then there were his fellow members of team six. Kiba and Naruto both had the same dream to become the Hokage someday. In the early days of being Genin on the same team, they would get in ridiculous shouting matches and arguments about who was going to obtain the title and it took a lot of thinking for Shikamaru to realize how to stop those annoying incidents. He had recalled Kiba saying something about the three of them surpassing the Sannin as a team one time, so he convinced them to make that their goal for now, and leave Hokage as a long term personal goal so they would quit fighting.

What he failed to realize was, that goal couldn't materialize without him keeping up with them, so if he didn't make Chunin and both of them did he'd be setting them back, which he didn't want to do to his teammates.

Peer pressure could be a bitch.

If all that wasn't bad enough, there was Anko-sensei to consider. If she wasn't convinced he gave it his all… Well, let's just say it sent shivers down his spine at what she might do to him if that were the case.

 _Women…_

"Shikamaru!" A familiar voice greeted, leaping off the roof and landing to his left with a smile brighter than the sun itself.

"Oi, Naruto."

"Ready to become a Chunin?"

The Nara sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. "I guess."

Brushing off his teammate's lack of enthusiasm the knucklehead pointed ahead by the entrance. Shikamaru's eyes followed and saw Kiba waving at them, with Akamaru resting on top of his head.

"Just in time guys! They're about to close registrations! And to think I was worried about being late… I still beat you two," he remarked with annoyance.

"I walk slowly," Shikamaru drawled.

"Well I had to stop and get ramen-to-go!" The Uzumaki scolded as if it were obvious.

"Whatever… let's just go."

* * *

Kiba dropped his pencil and flipped his paper over before crossing his arms worriedly. He figured out that the written test they had been expecting was actually a test of information gathering. Thanks to Anko's subtle hints, all three of them were aware of several things about the Chunin exams, but they hadn't considered the written test would actually be something more than that, nor did they expect the insanely difficult questions. Kiba simply relied on Akamaru to silently retrieve answers for him, and he figured Shikamaru was so smart he'd probably just work most of the problems out in his head.

Naruto on the other hand… _How can I help him out?_ _He doesn't even have any good ways to cheat! That I can think of at least. Unless he took a risk and sent a snake out of his sleeve or something._ Kiba sat patiently in quiet turmoil staring at the Uzumaki's back.

 _Oh my God, this is bad. This is really really bad! I don't know the answer to any of these questions! How do they expect us to pass a test like this when our sensei doesn't even teach us this crap!?_

 _Wait._ He realized, blue eyes widening.

 _Anko-sensei went out of her way to somewhat break the rules so we would be prepared for this. But she never gave us any hints that would point to such hard problems being on the written test. She knows there is no way Kiba or I could pass this! Which means… I'm missing something here._

 _We knew there was a written test thanks to sensei, and she said the proctors inserted hidden elements into the exams… Then right after that, she talked about stealth. What if… What if she did it in that order to make us realize something?_

 _Impossible test, hidden element… stealth? WE'RE SUPPOSED TO CHEAT!_ The blonde finally figured out.

Shikamaru yawned at his seat, as expected… the Chunin exams were already turning out to be a drag. He finished the equation he was processing in his mind and penciled in the answer to question nine then went back to the fourth query that he skipped, and re-read it. His eyes followed the mini paragraph of a question from start to finish and closed his eyes, sighing and making what could easily be mistaken for a handsign in his lap thinking hard and hoping one of the proctors didn't screw up and mark him down for cheating. After all, this test was supposed to be about cheating without getting caught, he was just fortunate enough to be able to answer eight of nine so far without indulging the test's true intent.

Sasuke flipped his sheet over wearily and buried his face in his arms, shielding his eyes from the brightly lit room. He was still exhausted from the previous night; his brief use of the Sharingan to get answers took more focus than it should have and he couldn't be gladder the first part of the exam was rather simple for someone with his kekkei genkai.

Unnoticed by Sasuke… A sand Shinobi's eyes were looking him over with a touch of masked sorrow. _He's still tired._ Itachi evaluated. _Count your blessings little brother, I would probably have to shadow you and your team and protect you if this were the Forest of Death stage today._ _You may not understand… But I will always protect you._

 _"_ _Sasuke!"_ A voice channeled through his mind loudly making him wince.

 _"_ _What?" he mentally snapped back._

The mental voice scoffed and he could easily imagine Ino rolling her eyes at him. _"Sakura gave me her answers… And since all three of us have to make it through this I have to give you whatever you didn't figure out on your own."_

 _"_ _I don't need help, I answered them all."_

 _"_ _Well, maybe you should compare… Out of the three of us, when it comes to written work Sakura,-"_

 _"_ _I said I don't need it! Get out of my head."_

Ino did so, without another silent word.

The disguised Itachi sighed quietly to himself. Not because of the test, no he answered them all and likely all correctly. Not only had his brother exhausted himself foolishly, but Itachi now had the feeling he and his Yamanaka teammate just had a telepathic conversation of which he turned help away, based on the Yamanaka's demeanor.

 _So it's just as Jiraiya said, his teamwork capabilities are lacking. This is all because of me…_ he considered. _The root of poor teamwork typically stems from grudges, selfishness and distrust of others. Sasuke possesses all of those qualities._ The elder Uchiha further analyzed.

Neji Hyuga frowned with undisguised hatred for his cousin. His head was resting in each hand as he looked down on his paper and hid the activation of his Byakugan. He scanned the room to compare his answers to the others, and discovered a few things he had not expected. Number one, a Sand Shinobi had extremely articulate answers. Even the seventh question, which pertained to Leaf history and the second Hokage… the particular question wouldn't be answered correctly by most of the young Leaf representatives and if you're from another village you're pretty much fucked unless you can find a way to cheat, which is the whole point. Yet, this Hidden Sand ninja gave a highly detailed analysis that Neji would never have guessed could come from another village's Genin. _Whoever he is… if his skills match up with his knowledge, he could be a problem down the road._

The second thing he was displeased with, was that Hinata appeared to willingly _give_ her answers away to Naruto in a display of amateur level discretion. _Hopefully the proctors dock too many points for her to advance. If she cannot find a way to give him answers without being that obvious then it's insulting we both call ourselves Shinobi._

The last thing that pissed him off was the sight of Lee's paper. A grand total of two questions were answered. No, more like one and a half! _Come on Lee time's almost up! I knew Tenten and I would have to pick up the slack in this portion of the exam but for God sakes write something down!_

"Times up!" Ibiki Morino, the main proctor screamed at all the Genin, his intimidating gaze weaving through the crowd.

"I will now give you the tenth question! However, there's a catch… If you choose to take the tenth question and answer wrong… you will be forbidden from taking the Chunin exams ever again! So you all must decide now, stay and risk your future… Or leave now."

"WHAT?"

* * *

As the Genin struggled through their written exam, several of the Jonin instructors gathered together and decided to play a game of poker. A shy kunoichi of the Hidden Snow joined Anko, Genma, Tokuro, Gai, and Baki of the Sand just as Anko dealt the cards again. Up to this point, Genma was making a killing; the man had a good poker face. He could hold the exact same expression of boredom with a great hand that he maintained with a lousy one and even his eyes gave little to nothing away.

Baki's poser was impressed, and wondered if Genma would continue to get the better of him if he were to step his game up a bit. As much as Orochimaru would like to win even solely for the sake of bragging rights in future conversations with Anko, he didn't want to draw attention on himself, particularly in Tokuro's presence. He couldn't allow his _little Hyuga_ to figure out his "traitorous" sensei was sitting across from him. Anko was to his right, but the two had barely spoken to each other directly, both worried Tokuro would start asking questions if they did.

The Sannin was eternally grateful for the fact that he perfected the Facial Copy jutsu all those years ago… He never would've imagined he would use it to sneak around with Itachi Uchiha as a pair of S-Class criminals. Of course, the jutsu did nothing to hide other features… such as his snake-like eyes. He was begrudgingly forced to drop the Genjutsu that made them appear that way and he felt strange to not be passively casting it. As for his hair, as much as he hated doing it… he wrapped himself up in Baki's spare bandages to cover all of his long black strands.

Itachi was forced to take similar measures to sell his identity as Gaara, wearing an undershirt that continued beyond the neck and covered all but his- well, _Gaara's_ face. He also carried the gourd of sand much to Baki and Gaara's protest. Part of him wished he had taken Gaara's identity so he would get a chance to meet Anko's students but figured the opportunity would present itself soon enough.

"I fold," The Snow kunoichi announced softly, dropping her very unlucky hand.

Anko and Orochimaru both kept their focus on Tokuro, despite the fact Genma was the one who won most of the previous hands. His gifted eyes moved from scrutinizing his former Genin teammate to the mysterious Baki who seemed to keep staring at him each hand.

Not showing any sign of being fazed by the Hyuga's returning gaze, the disguised Orochimaru folded as well. "Count me out."

Anko glanced at Gai who looked _very_ confident and folded as well, deciding he was incapable of playing poker and was sure to have a good hand with an idiotic grin like that. Genma seemed to be thinking the same thing, following in her decision, leaving only Gai and Tokuro.

"The power of youth is burning within this hand, I can feel it! I hold!"

"I hold," Tokuro stated, staring at Gai closely whose confident grin finally faltered.

Tokuro revealed he had a 'queen full of nines' and Gai, well… showed one of the worst possible hands. Anko twitched with annoyance that Gai Maito, bluffed her out of the round… and she had a pretty good hand! Genma was so surprised Gai bluffed him his senbon dropped to the ground and he had to bend down to retrieve it.

"Hey! Did you guys hear yet?" A Grass Jonin shouted at them.

"You'll have to be more specific!" Anko yelled back, deadpanned.

"I just heard the second portion of the exams isn't tomorrow… It starts right after the written part this year."

Each Jonin sensei's eyes widened slightly with surprise. "Anko… Do you happen to know who the second proctor is?" Orochimaru whispered.

"Kinnoe," She muttered back quietly.

 ** _A/N:_** **I left out the most canonistic parts of this chapter since the written exam is rather… unchanged and I dislike including pointless content that everyone knows about already like how the tenth question went.**

 **Anyhow, Itachi now knows the Facial Copy jutsu which he simply replicated with his Sharingan after Orochimaru performed it. As you may recall, the jutsu doesn't leave behind faceless corpses anymore (see the Orochimaru flashback chapter)**

 **If you dislike that Genma's team has had a serious lack of screentime in comparison to team 7… well, sorry but they honestly don't hold a ton of importance in this story. They'll get their opportunity here in the Chunin exams though.**

 **Til next time!**


	19. Survival Test

**Chapter 19: Survival Test**

 ** _A/N:_** **Sorry for the wait, selfish reasons this time. Online game I play had a 2 week long special event… So had to kick writing aside for awhile lol**

 **I think yall will enjoy my twists on the Chunin exams, as I vastly changed the Forest of Death portion and even the Preliminaries are going to be done differently. Why? Different proctors have their own way of trialing the Genin!**

 **As mentioned at the end of Chapter 18… Kinnoe is the proctor of the Forest of Death, not Anko. I didn't think it would be fair for one of the proctors to have a team taking the exam, and figured that would not be allowed.**

 **As for the preliminaries, I wanted to do them differently than you see in all the other fics, for the sake of originality so I changed the proctor of that as well though I won't tell you guys who it is just yet lol. Anyhow… the change up of proctors is my reasoning.**

 **Though perhaps it's more accurate to say it's an excuse to do what I want since there was no reason to change proctors in the prelim XD**

 **Also, the change of proctor is why the Forest of Death follows right after the written exam as opposed to the day after.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Welcome to training ground forty-four! It's also referred to as the 'Forest of Death' more often than not," The proctor told them with a neutral attitude. He didn't try to intimidate them like the first proctor did, or like Anko probably would have if she were the proctor for this. The thought of Anko Mitarashi proctoring something called the "Forest of Death" made Naruto cringe.

"My name is Kinnoe, and as your proctor for the second exam I have devised a survival test that will narrow the teams down perfectly for the final stage of the exams. There are currently forty-eight of you remaining. When this is over, only twenty-four will stand, meaning only eight teams advance beyond here."

A few murmurs drifted through the four dozen Genin but silence ensued again quickly and Kinnoe continued. "We're going to play capture the flag," he smirked. "Well, _you_ are," he corrected himself.

Just about every Genin's eyes bulged out, or raised an eyebrow or simply gaped at him in disbelief. "What the hell is the point of that?" A Rain ninja shouted irritably. He was a short and scrawny teenager with long brown hair and fiery eyes wearing a vest with multiple weapons pouches in addition to the ones on his pant legs. He had a few scrolled strapped across his chest as well, so Shikamaru noted immediately that this was a temperamental weapons specialist.

"Don't be so hasty," Kinnoe responded calmly. "It's a simple, straightforward test. However, very difficult; one small mistake and your team could fail."

"You're dodging my question! What kind of test for _shinobi_ is capture the fucking flag!?" The same Rain ninja argued.

Kinnoe eyed him with apparent amusement. "Every team will receive two numbers. The number in red represents the flag you're supposed to capture. Meaning the number in green is the flag you're assigned to defend. Before you enter, you will be shown on a map which quadrant of the training grounds is where the flag you're defending resides but we will not help you find the other in any way. A team will have the same numbers as you, but the colors flipped. That team obviously will be targeting your flag, but they have to locate it first, in this vast area."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "So we have to protect and go after a flag that could be _anywhere_ with only three people?" He asked sounding really annoyed but actually taking a mental note that Naruto held a treasure of a jutsu for this one.

"Yes, and it will be your team's problem to deal with for as long as it takes. This stage of the exams does have a time limit… If two teams fail to defeat one another within five days both are disqualified," Kinnoe explained.

Hinata tapped her fingers together nervously. "B-But that means… If you're unlucky, your team could face a mismatch to your skill sets because only one of the other teams would be after your flag…"

"That is true," Kinnoe nodded. "However, the odds are not always in a shinobi's favor. Some of you will be fortunate and some of you will not. Things rarely go as planned in the field… So, any other questions before I wrap this up and send you all off?"

Choji stepped forward. "What about food? You said there's no time limit… What if this takes days!?"

"There are plenty of things to eat in the forest," Kinnoe rolled his eyes. "You would all do good to learn to survive without mom's cooking… Anything else?"

"When we find our flag, can we relocate it?" Itachi asked, who ignored the fact his younger brother shot a look of bewilderment at him. _He must have recognized my voice._

"No," Kinnoe replied, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a key. "Each team will also receive a key… However each one is only compatible with the seal they were designed for. Your team starts with the key for the flag you have to capture… You must take the key from that other team in order to take both of the flags away and bring them to the tower in the center of the forest. All you have to do is place the proper key on top of the circle on the seal and it will unlock."

Each Genin either eyed Kinnoe thoughtfully or spaced out considering everything. "I told you it was simple, it's just a difficult test. Now, before we get this moving along…" He paused pulling out paperwork. "You all have to sign a contract that pretty much states you are aware of the risks and that you could die in these exams and not I nor the Hidden Leaf are to be held responsible!"

* * *

"Okay so we're heading that way," Kiba pointed on the map. "In quadrant one."

"Right and we're going to find our flag and… then what?" Naruto piqued, excited to get going.

"Take it easy, Naruto. This isn't a race."

"Oh c'mon!" The blonde protested putting his hands behind his head. "I'm relaxed I just can't wait to kick the other teams butt!"

Kiba grinned slightly. "As fun as that sounds, I think Shikamaru's right. The other team has no clue where our flag could be… they don't even know which quadrant, so we should conserve our energy and decide what our next move is after we find it and maybe set some traps up."

"I honestly don't care about finding the flag today," Shikamaru interjected. "Like you said, the other team isn't going to find it that quickly, and even if they were that _lucky_ they need this from us either way," He reminded raising the key into the air.

"Well I guess that's true," Naruto chuckled. "I mean they can't beat us without both flags and both keys…"

The Nara nodded. "The whole point of the keys is to make sure we're forced to confront the other team at some point, so rather than just look at this as offense and defense let's think outside of the box here."

"What do you have in mind?" The Inuzuka asked with interest as Naruto frantically swatted at a beetle that apparently annoyed him.

"There's no point in making our goal for the day to find the flag, we should get to the first quadrant by nightfall, pick out a place to camp out and find enough food to last us a few days. We'll take care of the medial tasks instead of the objective for now."

Kiba and Naruto nodded at the brains of their outfit in agreement, it was generally good to leave most of the decision making to him after all, even if he was lazy as hell. "So, what about the key? Which one of us should hold onto it?" Kiba beckoned.

Naruto scratched his chin. "Hm, well I'd say Shikamaru's the least likely to lose it since he's the toughest to close in on with his jutsu!" Kiba nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You guys still aren't thinking outside the box…" He remarked slyly. Anko's other students eyed him confusedly, not seeing a flaw in their logic.

"The enemy might deduct the exact same thing," The Nara explained. "Also, my chakra is not infinite… And Anko-sensei will gladly remind you my taijutsu is highly unreliable."

"Except not in those words," The Uzumaki laughed, Kiba joining in.

"Yeah, yeah…" He dismissed. "What we need to do is either give it to Akamaru…" Who interjected with a bark. "…which is the last thing they would expect, or to Naruto, and create a hideout just for a shadow clone or two so we can safe keep copies of the key. Of course there's a limit to how long he can keep a shadow clone alive… But he'll know when they dispel and can create replacements that would then work their way back to that hideout."

The two of them gawked at their teammate amazed at how many steps ahead he could think without acting like it took him much thought. "The latter is a lot more work…" He sighed. "But it's probably worth it in the long run."

* * *

"Neji, is something the matter? You seem more tense than usual," Tenten commented as team nine leapt branch to branch towards the second quadrant.

Half a minute went by in silence before the prodigy would reply, deep in thought. "I don't like this survival test," he admitted. "There is essentially only one true opponent for each team in this forest, and which team our adversary has been determined to be is like the lottery. Fate decides who we will face, and there will be no alternative," He stated miserably.

"Cheer up Neji! Between you and I, we are most likely unbeatable in close range and the beautiful Tenten will back us up with her unrivaled weapons skills! No need to worry yourself so much!" Lee argued.

"Don't get overconfident. I agree that we should be able to handle most of those teams, but what will we do if we face Kurenai's team?"

Lee scratched the back of his horrid bowl cut sheepishly. "That is true… I'm afraid that I am useless against that team."

"The Byakugan isn't enough to counter _that_ girl. But that isn't the only team I'm wary of."

"Okay, I can understand not wanting to face _her_ … But who else? From what I saw of Kakashi and Anko's teams I don't think it can be them."

Neji's frown grew. "You should have paid them more attention then," he berated. "Kakashi's team is irrelevant, but Anko's is as good as anyone here."

Tenten and Lee both stared at their teammate in shock, not that they thought team six was a joke or anything but it wasn't normal to hear praising words come out of Neji's mouth.

"Shikamaru is a strategist… That is a huge advantage for any team in a test like this, where you can create an ambush and if executed perfectly can take their opponent down and gain possession of both flags easily. He is a dangerous player for whatever team is stuck facing them."

"That's a good point, but how can he strategize without knowing his opponents capabilities?" Lee offered.

"He'd still think of something, that's what tacticians do. They rarely are fully aware of their enemy's arsenal; they make a plan with what they _do_ know. He knows they're facing three people, and if they're familiar with the team they'll know it once they get within the range of Kiba's nose. Shikamaru will probably have an idea for each of the teams he already knows about, including us."

"And Naruto?" Tenten questioned.

"Shadow clones," He answered simply. "That means their team by far has the biggest recon advantage out of any team here. Naruto could be in every quadrant at the same time and Kiba's an Inuzuka…"

"Wow I guess you have a point… I don't want to be matched up with them either now!" Tenten laughed.

Lee just shook his head. "Every team has advantages that others do not."

"That's true, but the odds are highly in those two teams favor. I'm also wary of the Hidden Sand team with the guy carrying that huge gourd on his back."

Tenten raised an eyebrow so he elaborated. "I was comparing my answers on the test to everyone else with my Byakugan. His answers were extremely articulate and detailed. You guys saw those questions; he answered them all with ease as if he were a Jonin."

"That's crazy!" Tenten exclaimed.

Lee was about to say something in agreement but Neji cut him off. "After I got over my surprise I looked over the rest of the tests. By the way Lee, you're an idiot." Tenten of course roared with laughter as the green devil hung his head in shame much to Neji's amusement.

* * *

Shino branched his pointer finger out carefully, allowing the beetle a safe landing as he leapt to the next branch, his teammates in tow.

"This is the one," Shino informed them in usual monotone.

Team one halted on the next branch, Hinata pulling the map out. "Flag number five," Shino told her. "Quadrant three."

"Quadrant three… Is that way!" Choji directed with his finger.

Hinata smiled. "It was a really good idea to plant a bug on every team before departing, Shino." The Aburame gave a curt nod.

"I actually planted more than one on every team, the reason was so my male beetles could detect the scent of the females and lead us to the team itself," Shino corrected, and immediately took notice of Hinata's happiness fading.

"There is no reason to worry, Hinata. It's not one of the Hidden Leaf teams," He promised, and her smile returned.

Hinata had been apprehensive at the possibility of fighting their ex-classmates and friends, not to mention her cousin's team. Her clan's abilities could do major damage if she was put in a position that she had no choice but to severely injure their opponent. She just wasn't sure if she could go through with it! Especially if it was someone like… Naruto. And then there was Neji; she knew he would defeat her easily. At her own game nonetheless.

"So which village are we facing?" Choji prodded.

"Grass ninja. If we hurry, we can beat them to their own flag and set up a trap," Shino strategized.

"What? But why not just take the flag and go! Wouldn't that be easier?" The Akimichi argued.

The insect user pulled the key they were given out. "Our opponent possesses the other key we require. We can't have both flags without facing them at some point; we know they will be searching for their flag. We're the only team that knows where to look for our enemy's flag so it is logical they will not expect an ambush and this is the best time to do one."

Hinata nodded. "Shino is right, Choji. If we execute this right, we will be the first team done…"

* * *

"Itachi." The rogue Uchiha said nothing and simply looked at Kankuro with a sideways glance.

"I know this is supposed to be _our_ Chunin exams," He stated gesturing his sister. "But realistically… playing defense and offense at the same time is too difficult on a three man squad. If we had Gaara… Well, I guess it would be rather simple to leave him at our flag considering he has the ultimate defense at his disposal but-"

"But he's not here, and now you're wondering if I intend to only make appearances as opposed to actually contribute to your team, as I'm already beyond Chunin rank?" The Uchiha heir presumed.

"Pretty much," Temari nodded.

"If Orochimaru and I are to continue our façade… the three of us must advance to the preliminaries, and at least one of us to the finals. Otherwise, there would be no reason for your team to remain in the Hidden Leaf, and we would lose our current cover options," He explained.

"So yes, in order to continue my own mission, I must ensure you advance, and I will contribute in any way I see fit."

"Great!" The Sand Shinobi smirked knowing he and his sibling had an S-Class ninja as an advantage over all the other Genin teams.

"Do you have a plan?" Temari hoped.

"Yes," Itachi stated simply and the Sand duo gawked. He sighed, realizing he would need to convey it to them now before they prodded at him too much. "First we find our flag, you two will defend. Leave capturing the other to me… I will leave behind a crow and program it with my Sharingan to find me immediately if something goes wrong on your end," The Hidden Sand duo nodded acceptance.

Itachi stared at the darkening sky. "It's almost nightfall, locating our flag will be very difficult if the proctors hid them… I wouldn't want us to waste time because we missed something in the darkness we should have seen. Let's find a place to rest; our opponents don't know where to even begin searching for it so we have no need to rush after it half blind."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"It would appear our adversaries did not find it and are likely camping it out until the morning," Shino observed in his typical monotone. "However, they are extremely close by."

"Byakugan!" Hinata activated.

"Well? Do you see them?" Choji probed after a moment of silence provoking a nod from the Hyuga heir.

"Just within the confines of my Byakugan's range…"

"This situation is adequately in our favor. We should wait for two of them to go to sleep before we move."

"With Hinata's Byakugan she should be able to see which one has the key! This'll be a piece of cake!" Choji declared gladly, wanting to get through this survival test as quickly as possible so he could dive into some well prepared meals… despite that this was literally the first night of the test.

* * *

In the center of training ground forty-four, a woman with purple hair wearing nothing but her pants and chain mail outfit, her jacket and shoes casted aside and her headband leaning against the shoes. It was a chilly night but it didn't bother her, she was just trying to relax a little and gaze at the stars in thought knowing her Genin were going through the toughest trials of their young shinobi careers thus far.

Her thoughts were conflictive. Parts of her were trying to distinguish her team's best options versus what they were actually doing. But she couldn't help but wonder if she could truly do that when Shikamaru was such a genius he could conjure things up that even she wouldn't think of.

 _Shikamaru…_ She had yet to tell her sensei that the Nara now knew of the basics surrounding their secrets. Of course, no one but she and the third Hokage and perhaps two or three others were aware Orochimaru and Itachi were in the village right now. She hadn't been given much of a chance to speak with the Sannin about important things or even social talk because they were not alone at any point so far. If the two of them were openly social in a normal fashion it would be suspicious since they supposedly met each other today, meaning they had few topics to discuss casually.

Anko clinched a fist. It was so frustrating! With all of her Genin taking the test she couldn't talk to them, she had limited options with her sensei, Kinnoe was rather busy being the proctor of the second exam and she wasn't sure where Yusuke was. Last she saw him he was preparing to leave for a mission a couple of weeks ago. There weren't really that many people close to her and none seemed to be available to just relax and have a little fun while she awaited the arrival of her Genin.

She had terrible relations with her Genin teammates, unlike the majority of Leaf shinobi. Hell, Tokuro was convinced she was an enemy of the Leaf but couldn't prove anything. The irony of that was laughable.

Anko frowned. Why couldn't her Genin team get along like her own do? Shikamaru, Naruto and Kiba embraced the concept of being team six together. Whereas when she and her teammates were younger but the relationship died off and was replaced by resentment. Her old teammates pitted themselves together and Anko and Orochimaru-sensei away, forging a wall in the camaraderie.

After Orochimaru began his mission intending to infiltrate the Akatsuki, and was known as a traitorous rogue ninja within his own village, the two of them took it to the next level, distancing themselves from Anko and treating her like _she_ did something wrong. The two of them never fully bought into Orochimaru's teachings. Sure, they learned a lot of things that would stay with them for the rest of their lives and they progressed significantly under his tutelage… But they never developed a real bond with him.

Perhaps they couldn't get past some of his eccentricities or his twisted enjoyment during a mission when he would immerse himself in a persona that relished the bloodshed. It was that persona that allowed him to be at times the coldest shinobi in the world, but that was how he coped with his duty. After all, if you force yourself to _enjoy_ it, how can it effect you mentally in a negative way? It was also true that he had nearly been consumed by that persona partly in thanks to the foundation and the pain he felt from being passed over by Minato for the Hokage title, but who other than she the third Hokage and Jiraiya really knew much about that? No one.

Had Orochimaru known that his way of coping would come close to turning him into a monster that at one point actually contemplated killing his own student that looked up to him like he was the very thing he desired at that time, Hokage… Perhaps he would not have attempted to teach his students to create their own sadistic persona for the same purpose. Not that it mattered much, only Anko bought into that ideology, and her teammates looked upon it with disgust for as long as she could remember.

Anko was the one who embraced all of his teachings… She had no regrets for it, but now she looked at the relationships between her Genin and couldn't help but think: Will my ways inevitably drive them apart? Will Kiba someday look down at Naruto the way Tokuro does at myself?

Anko was determined not to allow team six to become what Team Orochimaru unfortunately became.

She chuckled to herself, interrupting the chatter amongst the crickets below. "Who would've thought I'd become so attached to them so fast… And that I'd _care_ so much." The idea of it sounded foreign, caring about what other people thought of her and whether or not they liked her or each other… but at the same time it felt familiar…

 _This must be how Orochimaru feels when it comes to me, and how he used to feel about the others._ She realized, and cracked a smile in the half-moonlit night.

 ** _A/N:_** **Next chapter will hopefully be everything I've planned to write for the Forest of Death which should be a good size chapter and then we move onto the prelims.**

 **Like my version of the test? I wanted it to not be as simple as: "Find team weaker than you. Take Scroll. Move on." This in my opinion is a far better test but hey whatever I'm just a fanfic writer lol**

 **Reminder: Yusuke is Kabuto… I feel like it's hard for you guys to remember that when I haven't been using him, but if you do not remember why that is all you gotta do is go back to the Orochimaru flashback chapter** ** _"For the Good of the Leaf"_**


	20. Clash with the Mist

**Chapter 20: Clash with the Mist**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hey guys n' gals chapter 20 already 0.0 This fic is probably going to be longer than my original intention… no… definitely… Oh well I'm having fun! Lol**

 **As usual thank you for the reviews, I was quite pleased getting 4 on the first day chapter 19 has been out :)**

 **Final chapter for stage 2 of Chunin exams like I expected, we'll brush up on a few teams but the focal point of the chapter is obviously Team 6's fight!**

 **Onto the story! Enjoy**

The third Hokage masked his displeasure as he watched an unwelcome guest approach him at his desk. The man had so many bandages to hide his past injuries of war that he could be compared to a mummy, or at least half of one. Only one eye was visible, and as usual it possessed a dark gleam that saddened the Sarutobi. His old friend, Danzo Shimura.

"It's been a long time Danzo, what warrants my attention?" He asked politely and somewhat friendly.

An ANBU was staring at the head of the Foundation with utmost hatred for the man as memories of a night many many years ago invaded his head. Plus, he was dying for a cigarette… But then Danzo came in right before he took one out, now he would have to wait until there was no one present but the Hokage and ANBU since everyone was so aware of his "bad habit" as Kurenai often claimed it to be. _Maybe Shikaku is right about women being troublesome…_ He pondered before refocusing his attention on the man he held much disgust for.

"Hiruzen, I've come to inform you that your greatest failure is upon us again."

Both Sarutobi's frowned at his demeanor and took a moment to realize what he meant by that. "Orochimaru, I take it? What news do you have?" Hiruzen asked inquisitively. In reality, he was fully aware that was what Danzo came to talk about. Orochimaru and Itachi had communicated with him, using crows to deliver anonymous messages written to him directly.

"Yes, _your_ old friend and student," he attempted to rub in, not bothering to hide his hatred for the Sannin. "Visited the village. His whereabouts are currently unclear, I want you to assist the foundation in locating him before the trail runs cold. We believe he may still be in the village!"

"What?!" Sarutobi feigned shock, ignoring the Shimura's attempts to agitate him for his so-called failure with his former student. "Slow down Danzo… How do you know this? And…" He narrowed his eyes. " _When_ did you learn this?"

"For years since your disgraceful pupil betrayed us, I have stationed guards at his old lab… in case he ever chose to return to it for something. It seems to have paid off, as my guards were slaughtered days ago."

Anger flashed through Hiruzen's eyes. "And you neglected to inform me because you want revenge and don't want me interfering," He finished.

Danzo stared into the third's eyes hatefully. "He is not the only one, but he will do. Unfortunately, his infiltration skills are as sharp as ever… I cannot allow myself to miss this opportunity so I have come to you now."

"A threat of this magnitude is always to be shared with me! Our agreement aside."

Danzo waved it off dismissively. "You're too soft to deal with your student, I will not allow him to be spared because of your feelings."

Hiruzen scowled at that statement. "As I recall, my _feelings_ are the only reason why you've been breathing for many years now," He stated with a tone that advised caution, referencing that Orochimaru had every intention of slaying him had it been left up to him all those years ago.

Danzo ignored the point and retorted yet again. "Those same feelings would have allowed the Uchiha coup and decimated this village's superiority over the other great nations!" Each ANBU in the room found themselves confused by that statement, including Asuma.

"That is quite enough, Danzo," The Hokage warned with a tone of disgust. "We will coordinate with you, but _I_ will confront Orochimaru _myself_ ," He made clear.

"As you wish, Hiruzen," The Shimura stated distrustfully and turned to leave.

The tension in the air did not melt away with the Foundation leader's departure. "ANBU… Everyone please leave except Asuma and Yugao," He ordered ignoring the fact he was supposed to use codenames, not that it really hurt when they were alone, all of them knew who was on this roster and Asuma was the ANBU captain for the VIP protection squad.

These ANBU spent the most time guarding the Hokage but sometimes he would use different squads to relieve them and use them for missions, partly because the Hokage was too kind to confine them to guarding the office and his compound out of worry it would bore them all to death if he never mixed it up. Besides, why waste these men and women's skill?

The other ANBU nodded and scattered, whereas Asuma approached the desk and dropped his mask on some unfinished paperwork. He _immediately_ reached for a cigarette and his lighter, cupping his hand as he set the tip ablaze. "So, dad…" He began, knowing exactly what he was thinking and wanted to say but couldn't because the third requested that Yugao stay for some reason.

"It's time we bring Yugao up to speed over the last several years."

Asuma's eyes widened and he accidently fumbled his lighter and also made a mistake inhaling too much of the smoke, causing him to cough ferociously four or five times. Yugao removed her mask and dropped it beside Asuma's, and gazed at the Hokage anxiously. "Up to speed about what?"

"Lord Hokage! Please wait… At least let me understand what you're thinking here before you drag her into this?" Asuma plead addressing him formally.

"I will not allow those two to _die_ after all they've done for this village," Hiruzen stated adamantly. "Danzo will without a doubt figure out that there is a connection between them and the Chunin exams, even though that isn't completely true… They are there however, so it doesn't matter that the reason differs."

"You think he'll mistaken this as a plot to steal Sasuke's Sharingan or something?"

"Or capture a Biju," Hiruzen offered. "There is definitely a chance they don't figure it out, but he is aware of that facial copy jutsu they are using to hide and when the preliminaries start all three of us along with them and likely Anko will be present," He explained, deciding it was probable that Anko's team would advance.

Yugao in this time listened carefully and confusedly and Asuma nodded thoughtfully. "You're looking to indirectly back them up and want people present who _know_ what's going on."

"That's why I'm making you the proctor for the preliminaries and sending the scheduled proctor off on a mission unexpectedly. I will also convince Hiashi to attend, claiming he wished to be present to watch Hinata and Neji. Hopefully one of their teams makes it," The Hokage revealed.

Yugao shifted her gaze between the two Sarutobi's blankly. "Asuma, speak with Hiashi about the situation personally while I give Yugao the long rundown. Once you've returned from the Hyuga compound, I will send both of you to the tower in training area forty four. Raido was supposed to be the proctor, send him to me once you get there. You will wait for the second stage of the exams to end before Hiashi and I join you. I will tell Hiashi about Itachi myself…"

Yugao gasped at the sudden mention of Itachi's name. Currently, only Hiruzen, the village councilors Homura, Danzo and Koharu, Anko, the three Legendary Sannin and Asuma knew about Itachi's true story at this point. It was time for Hiashi and Yugao to find out.

"Got it," Asuma agreed, it was a good well thought-out plan. Danzo lost about twenty ANBU last time he clashed with Orochimaru… If the worst case scenario went down, the foundation would be faced with the Hokage, a Sannin, the said Sannin's ex-pupil and now highly skilled Jonin, an ANBU captain, the… head of the Uchiha clan technically, as Itachi wasn't a real traitor and had been Fugaku's heir, the head of the Hyuga clan and a highly trusted and experienced ANBU agent in Yugao who arguably was the best Kenjutsu user in the village save for possibly Orochimaru or her lover and trainer himself.

Asuma let out one last puff, extinguished his cigarette replaced his mask and set off to carry out his father's orders.

* * *

It was around noon, a bright and sunny day, though the Forest of Death produced far too much shade to enjoy. Choji let out a celebratory cheer as he found the flag his team was supposed to defend. "You were right Hinata! It's right over here! Quick unlock it Shino I'm hungry! Let's get to that tower already!" The impatient but gleeful Akimichi pushed.

The shy Hyuga allowed a bright smile, she enjoyed her teammates. Choji could be so much like Naruto at times, somewhat loud but kind to everyone. The… chubby Genin wouldn't hurt a fly, which Shino was quite appreciative of. Also, much like Hinata, he had fears for hurting his teammates in spars because of his clan's special abilities.

Hinata used to think Shino shared her shy nature, but as she got to know him he was actually not shy at all but very reserved. The Aburame member of the team was never afraid to voice his opinion or analysis of something, and though not often he would start conversations with them from time to time.

The more time they spent together, along with Genma-sensei, the more comfortable she was. In fact, she felt more confident now than ever, though she was still extremely apprehensive about the possibility she would combat Neji in this exam. Despite her improvements in both skill and her personality as she slowly came out of her shell as Genma put it… her father still favored Neji's skill and was experimenting with the idea of her little sister Hanabi replacing her status as the heir because of her shy and indecisive nature.

Hinata brewed with a determination to reclaim that attention. Not because she craved attention, but because she desired her father's respect and faith. She also didn't want the clan to look down on her as some failure and be treated by all of them the way Neji already does, with silent contempt usually masked with polite Hyuga demeanor.

"Don't worry Choji; I'm sure we'll get to the tower before any of the other teams… They'll have no one else to worry about cooking for," She cheerfully stated, knowing he would love the sound of that likely possibility.

Shino finished unsealing the flag and pushed his glasses back into place. "We've met all of the necessary requirements. Let's go," He stated sounding pleased with the ease their team managed to advance after remaining steps ahead of the opposing Hidden Grass team they were opposed to.

Now it was the second day of the second stage of the exam. During the first night after locating their oppositions flag in thanks to Shino using his bugs creatively, they then located the team that it belonged to which had not found it quite yet and chose to camp out not far away from it. They waited for two of the members to sleep and quietly knocked out the ninja on watch before taking the key which was thankfully in that same member's possession.

They quickly dispersed and after getting far away from that team, camped out in a hideout spot of their own. They set off to where their own flag was supposed to be the next morning until they finally found it, now they were set, possessing both flags already and feeling very confident in their abilities having done all this without breaking a sweat in what was supposed to be a very difficult test.

"Right!" Hinata beamed happily and Choji practically shouted, wanting an actual meal as soon as possible.

* * *

 _Day 2_

"Summoning jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed and tapped his hand on the ground summoning the three headed snake within a poof of smoke.

"Bah! Couldn't you have chosen a clearing or something!?" Kynx complained, as he and his brothers found their giant form entangled with trees in between them.

"Anko'sss bratsss," Inyx observed.

Anko's apprentices sweatdropped having not seen this predicament coming. "Hey guys…" Kiba greeted deadpanned. "Maybe you should shrink right about now…"

Kynx sighed as if it were a chore, causing Naruto to lean closer to Kiba and whisper. "Sometimes I feel like Kynx is what Shikamaru would be if he were a snake." Kiba stifled hysteric laughter at the implication and Shikamaru glanced at them wondering if he even wanted to know.

After the brothers shrunk down to a more appropriate size for the terrain, Jynx addressed them. "What is your guys' bidding? I don't feel any chakra other than your own."

"Feel?" Shikamaru questioned.

Kiba nodded. "Yeah I think I remember Jynx mentioning that he's a sensor one time… But there are a few special cases where he can't feel their presense. Nothing to worry about though… If there was someone he didn't sense, Akamaru and I would be able to smell them." Akamaru barked in agreement to the confidently smirking Kiba.

"So, how good are you guys at digging?" Naruto questioned the snakes.

"Terrible," Kynx hissed.

"We're snakes… We just tunnel underground, it's not like we require a lot of space," Jynx elaborated.

"We just want a small underground cave with a roof that won't collapse on us… Think you can manage? We were hoping to use it as a place to sleep and whatnot for a few days or so," Shikamaru explained.

Inyx looked to his brothers then back to the Genin trio. "We'll try."

* * *

 _Day 3_

Kiba licked his lips. Not because they were picking up that weird tendency from Anko this time, but simply because he and Akamaru were having some very tasty lunch… smoked rabbit!

He tossed some meat down to Akamaru and proceeded to devour his share. Shikamaru and Naruto seemed content with the fish the Uzumaki's clones managed to catch the previous day. Naruto blinked confusedly and his teammates paused to give him questioning looks. Naruto facepalmed before producing a pair of fresh shadow clones. "You guys know where to go! Dispel that _idiot_."

Two clones nodded. "You got it boss!" They chorused and took off, exiting the _Snake Cavern_ as Kiba dubbed their temporary home. By this time Shikamaru was still staring with a raised eyebrow and Kiba simply laughed and went back to his rabbit.

"You know those two clones we left in a separate hideout just to have a couple copies of the key? Well… they got into an argument…" He explained with an eye twitch. "The one who was clearly wrong got so mad that he dispelled the other one."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Good thing you have the chakra to waste."

"It's still annoying to know that happened."

Naruto then attempted to take another bite from his meal but faltered and his eyes widened again. "One of my clones was just killed…"

"So you found the group then?" Kiba presumed.

"No… Actually… a few of my clones are helping-"

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

The raven haired Rain ninja scowled as the person who intercepted his attack burst into smoke. A _Shadow clone, and he's not even a part of their team! Stupid brat._

"Naruto!" Sakura yelped in surprise as the clone perished, knowing the real one must be around somewhere.

"Hey ugly!" A voice shouted getting Sakura's foe's attention. "Take this!" He shouted and launched kunai from both hands. The zanbato user laughed mockingly and raised his thick blade in defense but let out a gasp of pain as he felt senbon needles insert themselves into his back.

He turned to see another clone letting out a battle cry and charging his way as did the one who originally got his attention. Not one to be considered cowardly, and knowing one of them had to be a clone he charged at the second one, determined to rid his team of this unexpected pest that was interfering with their battle.

Sakura briefly not on his mind, he failed to notice a third Naruto appear out of the bushes and grab the kunoichi's hand leading her away from the others. Once they were further out he released her hand and they took cover on their knees behind a boulder, where yet another Naruto was waiting on them.

"I guess I owe you a thanks, Naruto…" Sakura smiled genuinely. Both clones returned her smile, blushing profusely to her slight annoyance, but now wasn't the time. "So… which one is the original?"

The clones blinked and shared a look. The one she was staring at scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Neither of us…"

"What!?" Sakura replied incredulously. "Are you telling me the _real_ Naruto is trying to fight them alone?"

"Nah all of us are clones," The other responded. "It was Shikamaru's idea; the boss made a squad of clones to investigate every quadrant to try and locate our opponents and their flag. We just didn't want to ignore you getting hurt!" He explained, and both clones blushed profusely again because they realized that sounded different than the clone intended, regardless of how they felt.

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose. "Naruto…" She sighed.

"We're just here to help you out! What do ya say? And where are Ino and Sasuke? And that Rain ninja's teammates?"

"We got separated," She replied. "…And we should probably go find them right away! If that jerk joins up it'll be three versus two," She realized with a resolve Naruto had only seen a little of from Sakura in the past, or more specifically only when she was trying to save Kakashi-sensei during that mission they encountered the Akatsuki on.

"Right…" One of the clones scratched his chin. "But the two of us are just clones so I'm not sure how much we'll be able to help you out."

"I guess we'll just have to avoid being hit as long as possible… Try to throw every kunai and senbon you got before dispelling!" The other clone asserted.

"Does the real Naruto remember things that happen to you guys?"

"Uh yeah once we dispel he gets our memories, it's a really strange thing to get used to!"

"How would you know that it's strange to get used to… If you're a clone," She commented deadpanned.

"I have his memories… _duh_ ," he rolled his eyes.

"Well I'm not a Shadow clone expert!" She defended.

"Wait why did you ask that in the first place?" The other clone inquired.

Sakura softened. "I just wanted to let Naruto know… whatever you two are about to do as we rejoin this battle… I appreciate it. And so will Ino… and Sasuke would never admit something like that, but he might too."

The clones smirked. "No big deal, we want to do this!"

* * *

"That about wraps this stage of the exam for us," Kin stated, smirking with a hand resting on her hip after their fight with a team of Grass ninja concluded rather soundly.

One of her teammates nodded. "Too bad we weren't matched up against that Anko bitch's team, Tokuro-sensei said he doubted they would make it past the second stage."

"Too bad," Kin repeated. "I don't really care that much about sensei's grudge to be honest." _It would be wrong for me to… After what she did for me._

 _Flashback_

 _She struggled to her feet for the third time. She was ten years old, and suffering yet another beating from the neighborhood's adolescent… for lack of better term gang. She refused a "date" with the ringleader, and like each time before they proceeded to beat her senselessly._

 _She always refused, as the boy was five years older than her and a total jerk! She wasn't even interested in things like that! She was pretty sure the boy wasn't even interested, he just knew she would always say no and use it as an excuse for him and his friends to have fun hurting her._

 _Townsfolk never intervened in affairs such as this because of the fear of what might happen to them, as this "gang's" members had wealthy parents that held power in the village. If a little ten year old girl had to suffer a few bruises because of that, so be it from their perspective._

 _That's when Kin's world took a turn she hadn't calculated and the ringleader pulled out a knife. "Let's see what shade of red you bleed deeeaar," the idiots laughed and two restrained her as she screamed for help, begging someone to take a risk and save her from these bastards. Through her tears she could see a few of the townsfolk hesitate but ultimately do nothing at all, too scared for themselves of these teenager's parents._

 _The sharp object ignited severe pain in her left shoulder and she screamed again, in agony this time. "Hmpt, I thought hearing her scream like this would be more fun than this," he said disappointedly. "Oh well, I wonder what it feels like to kill someone? What do you think guys?" He asked his group._

 _"_ _There's no need for you to do something to her in order to find out," A creepy voice hissed._

 _Behind him appeared a very pale man with long black hair wearing a black cloak with an array of red clouds on it and nine-shaped earrings. He wore a shinobi headband and somehow through her tears she recognized the Hidden Leaf symbol with a slash through it for some reason. Perhaps it got slashed by an enemy ninja in battle?_

 _"_ _I can demonstrate for you…" He offered with a hint of glee. Pulling a kunai out he approached the boys with the scariest look she'd ever seen in a person's eyes. She thought she had been afraid of these boys… But this man was only there for a few seconds and she was sitting there hoping to God the 'demonstration' wasn't to be done on her._

 _He licked his lips in a craze and appeared to be ready to kill one of them but the boys dropped her and ran like hell, one tripped over his own feet and scrambled back up trying to get away… ironically the shinobi hadn't moved an inch. He put the kunai away and knelt down to whisper to her. "What's your name, child?"_

 _"_ _K-k-Kin Ts-Tsuch-chi," she wept out in fear, but surprisingly the shinobi smiled at her warmly._

 _"_ _A pleasure to meet you, Kin. You look like this isn't the first time they've done things like this to you… judging my some of your… less fresh bruises and scars."_

 _"_ _Th-They beat me up for fun!" She sobbed, still crying from the pain and the trauma but she was beginning to feel more trusting of her rescuer._

 _"…_ _Do you have a family?" He asked suddenly noting the raggedy clothing she wore._

 _"_ _No…I-I used to…" She stated with a tone of sorrow mixed into her already screwed up voice._

 _"_ _I see," The shinobi stated. "Will you allow me to treat your wound? And then afterwards… I will do my best to help you. Understood?"_

 _Kin looked up in surprise, he offered to help her with the wound and… Wait does he mean help her LEAVE this place!?_

 _O0o_

 _1 Week Later_

 _The shinobi that rescued her that day made what she would later understand was a shadow clone that brought her close to the Village Hidden in the Leaves before giving her instructions, wishing her good luck and dispelling._

 _She did follow his instructions to her though, she was to ask around and find a kunoichi named Anko Mitarashi, and explain everything that happened to her. Unfortunately the man never gave her his name even though she asked for it a number of times. She had to settle for describing the man to her, and she said she knew who it was and told her not to talk about this to anyone because he was on a secret mission and it was best that he was under the radar. Apparently that's why he never gave his name away._

 _If anyone asked… Anko was her savior, and Anko brought her back to the village from a solo mission. Kin went along with it because Anko and the Hokage were adamant that by doing so, Kin was helping protect the man who saved her life. The Hokage and Anko both did Kin several favors as she settled into the village and she was enrolled into the ninja academy, determined to not be weak like that again! She would learn to fight and protect people like that man, whoever he was._

 _She never did meet that man again, and even today she wondered if he was alive or still on that mission or if Anko simply hadn't remembered to bring the two of them together. She occasionally would see Anko and talk to her but any time she brought that man up, she would be told she knew they can't talk about him._

"Kin?"

"I'm fine, just remembering something…" She replied. "Let's get to the tower," She asserted before her teammates could pry further.

* * *

The key bounced off the grass before them as the final Rain ninja tiredly slumped up against a tree fatigued from his battle. "Take it," He spat at them bitterly.

Crimson eyes drank in the amount of chakra he had left before nodding his head to his teammates that he did not believe their foe was being deceitful. As Ino retrieved their prize, Sakura smiled to herself. _Thanks Naruto… You didn't have to help us._

"Bring us to your flag," The Uchiha commanded of the battered and remaining conscious Rain shinobi who scowled but picked himself off the feet, not wishing to agitate the Sharingan user.

* * *

 _Day 4_

"HEY! SHIKAMARU! GET UP! GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND GET OUTSIDE! HURRY!"

Shikamaru yawned to the clone's annoyance. "I'm up now What?" He drawled groggily, having rudely been awoken from his nap.

"Some Hidden Mist guy is dispelling all the clones outside!" The messenger clone reported.

"Stupid Chunin exams," Shikamaru complained. "So much trouble…" He stated half asleep and dug his hands into his pockets following the clone. He didn't want to, but there was nothing he could do… Naruto's clones sounded like they were going to fail and the Nara was the only one at the hideout so he may as well see what the guy could do before fighting him and hopefully ending it quickly with Shadow Possession.

As they made it outside, the Nara observed their opponent. He was of average height, wearing a purple shirt with a Hidden Mist headband around his neck. Shikamaru gazed into the other teen's bright purple eyes which were full of excitement as the smirking figure's ocean blue hair shook as he brought his weapon down on a shadow clone. He noted that one of his teeth stuck out over his bottom lip when his mouth was closed.

The final three clones not including the one beside the Nara rushed their opponent who smiled confidently as if he was just having fun right now. "If Shadow Clones are like Water Clones, then the user gets memories with every dispel. Are you enjoying the memory of dying over and over?" Their foe taunted as his blade, a long thick zanbato with a hole big enough to fit most people's heads along the end of it, deflected a volley of shuriken.

Their enemy then lunged forth at the same clone burying the sword through its chest in yet another poof of smoke. He quickly rotated his heels to meet the other two, taking a defensive stance. One of the Naruto's leapt onto the other's back and leapt again using it to get as high as he could in the air soaring over the Mist ninja. The Mist Genin seemed amused by the unexpected maneuver and leapt straight up, extending his reach to the best of his ability but even with such a long weapon he couldn't quite hit his prey. The airborne clone sent senbon into his shoulder and neck and as the Mist ninja landed the other clone slammed a kunai into his ribs but met nothing but a… splash?

The Mist ninja's body morphed into water, confusing Shikamaru and the clones as he moved away from his opponents and reformed into his normal, solid self, smirking. The Nara noted the senbon needles and kunai were ejected into he spot he was attacked and now seemed completely unaffected.

"How did he-"

"No way!"

 _I'm afraid so Naruto…_ Shikamaru grimaced, hearing the clone's reactions to their opponents unique abilities. They were facing an enemy that was capable of liquefying his body at will and was skilled in Kenjutsu arts that of course none of Anko's Genin could even consider themselves novice in. "What a pain…" He stated, analyzing the sword.

"You like it?" The purple eyed ninja asked rhetorically, stabbing it into the ground in a relaxed demeanor. "It's one of the swords that used to belong to the _Seven Legendary Swordsman of the Mist._ The _Executioner's Blade,_ formally wielded by Zabuza Momochi!" He lectured proudly. Each of the Shadow clones eyed the blade remembering that one of the Hidden Rain shinobi he helped Sakura fight used a similar weapon.

"Zabuza? Isn't that the guy Sakura's team beat?" One of the clones asked Shikamaru thoughtfully.

He didn't dare take his eye off their enemy who raised a curious eyebrow at the blonde's question. "Yes, I think you're right," Shikamaru answered.

The Executioner Blade's current owner laughed with amusement. "So you guys know the people who dealt with him for us? Sakura you said? I'll have to give them my gratitude in the finals; he was a rogue ninja after all. Besides, if he didn't die… I wouldn't have this beautiful toy!" He stated grabbing the weapon, dislodging it from the dirt and admiring it before resting it back on his shoulder.

Now it was one of the Naruto's that was smirking. "Oh don't worry! I'll send them your regards… Cause there's no way you're advancing to the finals!"

"Oh?" The Mist ninja stated with a cocky grin.

"Good luck next time around, _pal_ ," Another clone chimed.

"It's not your fault you got stuck facing the _best team._ Tough break!"

This had his pineapple haired teammate smirking but the Mist ninja wasn't even slightly perturbed by the blonde's confidence. "Big talk, but in the shinobi world you'll eventually come to realize actions speak far louder than words… And I've already taken the action to wipe out about fifteen clones. What exactly have you done?"

Shikamaru expected the Naruto's to get mad and perhaps attack him together and dispel like a bunch of fools, because he still hadn't mastered control over his emotions. Kiba also needed in work in that department… But to his delight they stayed put. One of them just gazed back into the Mist shinobi's eyes and uncrossed his arms, pointing a finger at him. "I admit that you're pretty good. But you're not the only one with special abilities up his sleeve! And don't think for a second that you're the toughest challenge we've faced… You're not even top three!" Naruto proclaimed, thinking about the Akatsuki and the Inoanji Yamanaka mission.

"Is that so?" The Executioner Blade wielder sneered. "Well I guess I'll just have to climb the latter to number one."

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," Shikamaru inputted. "If you think killing a few Shadow clones means you can take us… Be my guest. This whole things a drag… But Naruto here doesn't give up. So I'm obligated to make sure you don't win," He stated in a voice that sounded very prepared for the fight, knowing it was inevitable that this one would come down to him, since the real Naruto wasn't here, but there was no reason why their enemy should know that.

"Let's get on with this then!" The eager Mist shinobi declared, pulling the zanbato off his shoulder.

* * *

Naruto and Kiba shared a look of confusion from their hiding place amongst the bushes. They had each summoned a large snake from opposite sides of the Hidden Mist team's hideout and had them converge on it, expecting the distraction to either make this fight extremely easy… Or at least get an idea of what each of the Mist shinobi's skills were.

Instead, they regrouped and watched completely stunned as the snakes first attacked the Mist ninja… and then turned on one another, slithering through the forest in a dual while the two Hidden Mist ninja, a silver haired male and a brunette kunoichi, eyed the terrain searching for the summoners.

"What the hell? Did they put the snakes under a Genjutsu or something?" Kiba whispered and Akamaru let out a low growl, sensing his master's annoyance.

"Genjutsu…" Naruto whispered back in an irritated, whiny voice. "I _hate_ Genjutsu!"

Kiba nodded, feeling the same the same way. "We can't be sure, but it's probably what happened to them."

Naruto smacked his fist into an open hand. "Then I guess taking them by surprise is off the table, so we'll just have to do this the hard way!" He proclaimed lunging out of the bushes. Kiba and Akamaru appeared a second behind him.

"Naruto, we need to figure out which one casts the Genjutsus!"

"Right, I'm on it!" The Uzumaki assured.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Sensei! You know you're not supposed to use Genjutsu!" Naruto complained, as he and his teammates panted heavily as they took an intermission in their three versus one students versus teacher spar._

 _Anko licked her lips. "Would you rather me hold Genjutsu back so you perform better in the spars? Or would you prefer to live when an opponent uses Genjutsu on the battlefield? Hm? Your choice!"_

 _Naruto sweatdropped at the implication but said nothing so Kiba spoke up instead. "Still, you can't expect it to matter that you use it on us here and there when we have no clue how to combat it!"_

 _Anko frowned. "The academy didn't cover it?"_

 _"_ _I don't recall much about Genjutsu, it was a short unit. I think we spent less than a week on it…" Shikamaru provided facilitating a sigh from the Mitarashi._

 _"_ _Damn it. All right I guess I have to teach you a few things about it then. Someone needs to tell those morons to make a new curriculum," She decided with an irritated voice._

 _Her Genin chuckled at her expense, they had only known Anko for two months but they were starting to realize they kind of liked her in spite of some of her quirks. "All right then," She began. "First thing you need to engrave into your brains is that almost all Genjutsu users are as bad as Shikamaru at taijutsu."_

 _Kiba and Naruto cast sideways glances at the Nara and laughed as he simply sighed and muttered something about women being troublesome. "Since Genjutsu is a ranged art, that relies on subtlety, they are poor at close range combat, as almost none of them work very hard to perfect their taijutsu which is a lot like the Nara clan honestly… we're just substituting their Shadow manipulation for Genjutsu."_

 _"_ _Could you TRY to go through a lecture without making fun of me for a change?"_

 _"_ _You don't want to get made fun of? Get to work on that taijutsu then," She shot back and the Nara grumbled._

 _"_ _Anyways, unlike Shika, Genjutsu users don't have shadow possession in their arsenal to help keep the taijutsu specialists such as Kiba," she gestured her other student. "…away from them. Which means your goal to take down a Genjutsu user is always to find a way to get close to them, of course you'll probably have to escape a Genjutsu before you can do that since you wouldn't know they are a Genjutsu user without them revealing it to you. So it could be too late, but that's why Genjutsu is dangerous."_

 _"_ _How do we escape Genjutsu? I never seem to be able to! And I tried that chakra pulse thing you told us about that one time," Prompted Naruto._

 _"_ _Well another option is to inflict pain on yourself… But it's not recommended. Pain can interfere with the disruption in your chakra that resulted in the Genjutsu."_

 _"_ _Bottom line… You have to identify who the Genjutsu player is and force close combat. As long as they aren't a Jonin you should be able to defeat them if you can manage that."_

 _End Flashback_

 _Okay so the grey haired guy has a large shuriken on his back, so he could be a weapon specialist. But I can't tell for sure since it might just be his backup for the Genjutsu, it's another ranged attack after all. I don't see anything special about the girl, so I guess the only way I can find out is to try and get close!_ Naruto theorized.

"There they are!" The silver haired shinobi declared and his partner turned her attention to where he was watching the Leaf Genin converging on their position.

She smirked, and waved her hands through signs as the male pulled out a kunai and charged the duo to attract their attention. The orange jumpsuit clad Uzumaki and the Hidden Mist shinobi's kunai collided in mid air and Naruto blocked multiple strikes as they dropped to the ground. He sidestepped another strike before going on the offensive, forcing his foe to block his own attacks.

The kunoichi finished going through her handsigns and flicked her earring, causing Kiba to raise an eyebrow as he closed in. Before he was in range to lash out at her, Kiba's ear twitched and a flurry of shuriken came at him from seemingly nowhere, which the Inuzuka barely avoided in thanks to his hearing and drew to a halt on all fours.

She gaped at him momentarily but hid her emotion as quickly as it came. _Facial markings, those feral eyes and a ninja hound. Of course… the famous Inuzuka clan… He must've heard the attack coming with his advanced senses. I'll have to rely on a different Genjutsu._

Kiba concentrated as he sniffed the air. _I still only smell Naruto, Akamaru and I… along with these two. So where did those shuriken come fr-_ Wasting no more time Kiba bit his arm hard enough to draw blood. His eyes immediately noted the shuriken he dodged had vanished.

The kunoichi smiled. _So he figured it out rather than suspect our third teammate… If it weren't an Inuzuka perhaps my strategy would have been more effective. Oh well, time to try something else._

The Mist Genin grunted in pain as he clasped his left pectoral where his blonde Leaf opponent managed to dig his kunai into. He grinded his teeth in annoyance of the pain. _Damn it, that's my throwing side…_ He realized thinking about the large shuriken strapped to his back.

 _He wasn't interested in making distance until I hurt him… He's fast and good in close quarters with a weapon at least… It can't be him._ "Kiba! She's the one!"

"Don't worry! I already know."

"She's the one?" The male Mist ninja repeated confused. _They were just trying to determine who casted the Genjutsu on their summons?_

"Yeah," Kiba and Naruto replied simultaneously, not caring to elaborate.

 _These guys are confident and know what they're doing… We can't afford to play around, especially without Suigetsu to help us._ She thought to herself. "Nayo, we have to use _that_ combo…"

He grunted in surprise flashing a glance her way, then he caught movement in his peripheral and his eyes widened with surprise as the Leaf ninja got in front of him and kicked him up into the air, he freefell into a lake with a loud splash. "You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent so carelessly like that, idiot!" Naruto shouted as he resurfaced.

"Shut up you damn runt!" The silver haired shinobi hissed. "I'll show you who the idiot is! Knocking a ninja of the Hidden Mist into the water is the most foolish thing you could do!" He berated and weaved his handsigns.

"Nayo!" His teammate called angrily.

"I know! That combo! I heard you already, but I'm going to do _this_ first! Water style: Beach Crab jutsu."

The moment the words left his lips, a pair of liquid pincers lashed out of the previously calm lake and pulled the Uzumaki underwater. Naruto held his breath in a panic, he hadn't seen this coming! He desperately squirmed within the pincer's clutches trying to break free. Meanwhile, the jutsu's caster moved on to Kiba, who hadn't seen what happened to Naruto because he was trying to stop the kunoichi from casting a new Genjutsu.

"TUNNELING FANG!" He cried out as he finally caught up to the Mist kunoichi and collided into her with his clan's taijutsu.

She groaned in pain as her body skidded across the ground, she still needed to work on her stamina, as much time as she spent developing her speed to deal with guys like this she couldn't afford to tire out and take shots like that. Akamaru barked to alert Kiba to something, and he immediately leapt into the air to avoid the shuriken which passed him by and drilled into a tree in the distance.

 _Damn._ Nayo cursed. _That was pretty good velocity for a left handed toss. Guess there's not much I can do about it now._ "Belino, create some distance… I've got you." The Mist kunoichi nodded and began to get back to her feet.

"Oh yeah?" Kiba snorted, dropping smoke bombs to envelope him and the kunoichi, Belino apparently, and used his sense of smell to converge on her again.

Nayo hurriedly rushed into the purple fog, but found he couldn't see a damn thing. _Shit shit shit._ He didn't have the faintest clue where to find the Inuzuka until he heard his teammate scream in pain.

Meanwhile, Naruto had resurfaced after escaping the clutches of Nayo's jutsu and avoided drowning to death. He was trying to catch his breath as he gazed over to where Kiba's smoke bomb inhibited his vision and presumed it to be a good thing. The Uzumaki set one foot back on solid ground as he realized something. No one knew he was out of there… Actually he didn't think Kiba and the kunoichi even saw what happened to him.

He grinned deviously as he suddenly realized an opportunity had arrived. Taking advantage of the fact everyone was too occupied to notice, he ran through some handsigns and slapped his hand on the water. "Summoning jutsu," he muttered, dropping aquatic snakes into the lake. "Engage any non Leaf ninja who comes near the water."

"As you wish," One of them responded and Naruto disappeared into the bushes before either Mist shinobi had a clue he was back.

Kiba panted slightly as the fighting drew to a pause, and he was clearly winning. Nayo was taking a major beating trying to combat him within the smoke, and Belino was a bloody and bruised mess that couldn't hold her own in close quarters if they fought in broad daylight with a flat terrain never mind against an Inuzuka clouded in a smoke bomb in a _forest_.

"Naruto?" He scanned the area. "Where is he?" He fixated his eyes on Nayo. "WHERE is Naruto?" He growled.

Nayo for his part appeared perplexed, he too looked around but unlike Kiba he shut his eyes and began _laughing._ "When I fought him earlier, he was holding his own, I thought he was good. But obviously I overestimated him if he couldn't survive that pitiful jutsu."

Kiba narrowed his eyes. "What? What jutsu?"

"The Beach Crab jutsu, it's a diversionary tactic that holds the target underwater for a short period of time before the target is able to free their self. It would appear your teammate has drowned to his death, a pity."

Kiba and Akamaru both growled ferociously. "If it's any consolation, I hadn't intended to kill him that way… It's not my fault your teammate was an idiot," Nayo taunted.

Kiba brought his right arm to his mouth and sunk his teeth into his wrist as he tried to gather himself. _Calm down Kiba, calm down!_ The Inuzuka's eyes wandered over to the water and he noticed something the Mist ninja didn't. _There's no body… When a person drowns to death, their body floats to the surface. Naruto's alive._ He held his smirk back as he figured that the Hidden Leaf's number one hyperactive most unpredictable ninja was planning something.

Sniffing the air, he detected the Uzumaki's scent but decided to pretend like he hadn't. "Big mistake," Kiba spat. "I will _avenge_ Naruto…" He announced, licking his lips Anko-Orochimaru style. "…And I will take my time," He warned darkly, looking to sell the situation further to help Naruto get the opportunity he's looking for.

"Nayo damn it… the combo…" Belino insisted yet again and her teammate nodded, on edge as he eyed the enraged Inuzuka.

In the bushes Naruto raised an eyebrow. _Can't they smell me?_ And then he smirked, realizing his teammate was helping him play dead. He placed his hands in his favorite handsign and created a fresh shadow clone.

* * *

Shikamaru and the three remaining shadow clones eyed their confident opponent. The clones on edge because they needed to back their teammate as long as they could without dispelling of course, while the Team Six's reigning prodigy of laziness and strategical thinking was trying to formulate a way to defeat their skilled foe.

"Are we gonna do this or not?" The purple clad Genin asked impatiently, staring back at the quad of Leaf figures.

 _He demonstrated his abilities already. He's skilled in Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, wielding an uncommon and deadly weapon. On top of that, his skills are complemented by an unusual ability to liquefy his body in what seemed instantaneous. He probably has some ninjutsu too… likely water style._

"Fine," the Mist swordsman huffed. " _I'll_ get us started," He decided with irritated haste and moved forward.

The clones braced for his attack but Shikamaru responded first, firing a nest of snakes from each of his short sleeves. The ocean haired ninja's eyes widened with shock but recovered quickly evading the reptiles and with a swipe of the zanbato beheaded them provoking a bit of a wince from the Leaf ninja.

The smirking Mist shinobi raised his left hand in the form of a gun, aiming at the Nara. _On the other hand…_ Shikamaru continued to think. _I've only revealed one technique, and if I hit him with my Shadow Possession it's all over._

One of the Shadow Clones bumped into Shikamaru, forcing him out of the way before dispelling as a bullet of water parried into its chest. _What the hell was that?_ Shikamaru wondered, staring at the gun-shaped handsign.

"Damn it, I missed," He muttered before liquefying his face as one of the clones attempted to bury four senbon needles into his skull. They dropped to the ground and he solidified again.

Meanwhile Shikamaru grabbed one of the clone's shoulders. "Stay back I may need you later," He instructed. "You, charge him with me!" He ordered the other grimly.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Shikamaru."_

 _"_ _Yeah, sensei?" He drawled. It was just the two of them. Naruto and Kiba were in the middle of a Taijutsu spar and Anko was watching them closely while hoping to address another issue at the same time verbally with her third Genin._

 _"_ _I know I push you to improve your Taijutsu a lot, and I know you're smart enough to understand why I think it's so important. So I ask you this: What do you plan to do when you have no other choice but Taijutsu? Even a long ranged shinobi needs to "fortify" his or her last line of defense. Things rarely go as planned on the battlefield, and you never know when you may be forced to do something you hadn't wanted to. On a side note, we're only human… We do run out of chakra ya know."_

 _Shikamaru sighed. "You know I've been trying sensei…"_

 _"_ _I know," She confirmed. "And I don't expect you to be on par with either of these two," She nodded up at his teammates. "But you can't stay this far behind, just let me know if you need anything to help you advance."_

 _End Flashback_

 _Irony's such a drag._ Shikamaru thought as he and the clone went on the offensive. Here he was, Shikamaru Nara, intentionally throwing himself in harm's way using Taijutsu despite being a long ranged tactician. Unfortunately, some plans aren't ideal for the only shinobi available to carry them out.

The Mist Genin front flipped over the Leaf duo during their initial attack and made a sweep move with the Executioner Blade as he turned around but neither of Anko's apprentices walked into it. Shikamaru's brows furrowed as he noticed something after that counterattack and made a mental note of it before attacking him.

The Nara went for his legs but the Mist shinobi made a rather awkward leap back. "Heh," He muttered to himself, as the Hidden Mist ninja's escape move seemed to confirm his previous thought and he pressed on again, this time with the intent to provide the shadow clone with a solid opening.

Rather predictably, their opponent once again utilized Zabuza's weapon to fend him off, but Shikamaru wasn't looking for openings this time, he just read the movements to the best of his ability and avoided the strikes. The purple eyed Genin raised the Executioner Blade up and brought it down with all his strength, missing Shikamaru by a hair and implanting the heavy blade in the ground.

"Naruto!" A smirking Shikamaru shouted but the clone was way ahead of him.

"Yaaah!" The clone let out as he stepped on the sword and propelled himself off of it knee-first into the other ninja's face and licked his lips in an all too familiar fashion.

Both Leaf shinobi gasped however as the knee impacted with nothing but a splash of water. _What IS this jutsu of his?_ The Nara wondered.

"How does-" Was the last thing that clone said before getting dispelled by a kick courtesy of the Mist shinobi.

"You guys are pretty lame even for Genin," He taunted, yanking the zanbato out of the ground and resting it on his shoulder again.

"Shut up!" The final Shadow clone retorted from the slight distance.

Shikamaru for his part, wasn't disappointed by that battle sequence. He learned two more very important things without revealing the extent of his own abilities. The first, was that this guy wasn't strong enough to properly wield the blade, it was heavy for him and that resulted in some of his attacks (particularly the strikes that he wasn't given ample time for) to be sluggish or awkward. It wasn't just attacks either, when he leapt back to avoid a swipe at his legs the sword screwed with his balance from having to jump with such short notice.

"Yeah I suppose you're right. Maybe we should just give up… We're obviously not ready to be crowned Chunin," The Nara replied causing the final Shadow clone to gawk dumbly before going on a rant that Shika ignored.

The second thing the Shadow user found out was that Taijutsu lead to the same result as weapons against this guy; that liquefaction jutsu was a serious problem. That was the whole purpose of his close range assault, to see if the affect was the same, and unfortunately it was.

Yes, the Nara was now certain that he and one Shadow Clone were simply not enough to beat this guy. He was out of his league, and had abilities he wasn't suited to counter. There was only one way to win this, Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"I'm sorry Naruto; I know it's not your ninja way and all to give up but we can't take this guy. There's always next time," He offered, enraging the clone further.

For once… The Nara was counting on Naruto doing something reckless now that he had a reason to be mad.

"Well you can cower around all you want! I'll beat this guy… With or without you!"

 _He just needs one more push…_ "You'll just be wasting your time…" He sighed dismissively. _Maybe Anko's lecture about how acting is an underrated shinobi art is true after all._

Naruto's clone scowled. "So much for teamwork!" He spat and charged at the Mist shinobi armed with kunai in each hand. Shikamaru meanwhile made the handsign for his clan's jutsu; he needed to time this right.

Watching carefully as Naruto's clone avoided the first few hits he predicted which one was going to defeat him, which was one of the clumsier moves from the Mist shinobi and he then snared his teammate in his shadow jutsu before rolling forward, which caused the clone to mimic the action and avoid the hit. However, as Shikamaru and the clone stood, the Nara intentionally left the clone wide open for the Mist ninja to take out.

A shoe was planted in the clones face, dispelling it, but as soon as the clone poofed in a cloud of smoke the shadow was free to take a hold of the off-balance enemy instead.

"I guess we're not such lame shinobi after all…"

"What did you do!?" The purple eyed Mist shinobi demanded, trying to squirm free of the jutsu with utmost futility.

The Nara shrugged as if it weren't of importance. "Casted my jutsu."

The opposing ninja's veins appeared on his forehead upon hearing such a lame answer and attempted to liquefy out of it but found he didn't have control over his chakra either. The shadow manipulator crossed his arms in a laid back fashion, as did his opponent who was beginning to catch onto what this trap was doing to him.

"Y-You were controlling that clone! And you baited me into killing it so you could have me! Damn it."

Shikamaru smirked. "It was easy to set up, though I had to deceive and manipulate a teammate in order to do so."

"Well this isn't over yet… How are you going to beat me if I mimic your own movements?"

"I don't care about beating you, I just need the key."

"And you think I'm going to just give it to you? HA! You're a riot…"

Shika sighed. "You can tell me where it is or I can just start pulling stuff out of your pockets and remove clothing until I find it. Personally I'd say it's easier if you just give it to me."

"Even if you take the key from me, there's no way for you to run away without dropping your hold on me."

"That's my problem," Shikamaru retorted.

The Mist ninja chuckled. "Third pouch on my left hip."

Both ninja reached to the designated spot and Shikamaru made a throwing motion in order to make the Mist ninja toss it his way and then he moved to catch it while the other shinobi did the same movements consequentially.

He put the key in one of his own pouches and tapped into his chakra, which he couldn't do for the Mist shinobi. That would work to his advantage in this situation, since the other Genin would mimic all of his movements… But ultimately with no merit since he wouldn't be channeling any chakra into a jutsu. Both Anko's apprentice and the foreign ninja bit their thumbs and ran their hands through several handsigns.

Releasing the shadow's hold, he slammed his hand down and a large cloud of smoke was produced as he summoned the three headed snake. The Mist ninja had grabbed the Executioner Blade and began rushing towards him having an idea of what he had in mind but skidded to a halt upon seeing the size of the summon.

"Shit."

"That guy's your opponent, I just need you to buy me some time! And don't use fire style." Shikamaru quickly informed them and leapt off of Kynx' head to retrieve their flag.

"Consssider it done," Inyx answered.

* * *

Naruto, sighed with relief from his hiding place and held back a cheer upon hearing this update from the messenger snake sent by Shikamaru, explaining his acting and what transpired after the final Shadow Clone died. He dismissed the messenger and turned his eyes back to the battle.

Belino and Nayo shared a nod of silent communication and the two sprinted towards the water, skidding to a half just short of it. Belino was making her handsigns for the Genjutsu she was saving the entire fight and Nayo started another water style jutsu.

"Getting serious?" Kiba shouted with the angry façade, popping a food pill into both his and Akamaru's mouths. "Good," He stated coldly as they swallowed.

"Ninja art: Man-Beast mimicry!" He announced as his nails and teeth grew out and his chakra doubled from the pill. Akamaru for his part, turned a heated red before transforming into a carbon copy of his master.

Belino flicked her earring after finishing the handsigns and sighed in relief when she could tell she cast the Genjutsu successfully and Kiba was too busy making his own preparations. On the other hand, the distraction she required from Nayo never came. Just before he could release his water jutsu, something unseen pulled him underwater. _What? That guy's alive!?_

"C'mon Akamaru!" the Inuzuka heir led, brushing off that he wasn't sure what Naruto just did, since he knew that his teammate couldn't have been underwater that whole time.

 _It can't be helped… at least I've casted my Genjutsu._ Belino assured herself and ran towards the approaching hooded figures that were out for her blood. Just before Kiba's elbow could impact with her, she leapt right over the duo, who skidded to a halt and ran after her the other direction. _I'll tire them out._ She strategized.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba shouted as he and Akamaru each spun into the tunneling fang and crossed at the spot Belino was but to their surprise neither connected. _What the hell is going on?_ Belino stood in one place, panting as she awaited the snarling Kiba and his ninja hound to come at her for another attack run.

A loud splash drew everyone's attention as Nayo emerged from the lake and he threw a snake at the ground viciously. Kiba recognized it as a water snake which desperately slithered back into the comfort of the lake. _Naruto you sly dog…_

"I _hate_ this forest," Nayo spat, apparently having something in his mouth. "All sorts of disgusting creatures."

Kiba chuckled. "Actually… Naruto summoned those," He revealed provoking widened eyes.

"He signed the snake contract a while back, it must've been his last move before… _dying_ ," he finished in a colder tone. _I wonder what the hell that knucklehead is doing anyways… He's had plenty of nice openings to rejoin this battle._

"Is the combo ready?" Nayo asked his teammate.

"Yes," The kunoichi encouraged, as Kiba and Akamaru tensed.

With a single handsign, the silver haired shinobi vanished. _An invisibility jutsu?_ "That won't work on me," Kiba warned cockily but the kunoichi simply crossed her arms and smirked.

The Inuzuka sniffed once, and lashed out with his fangs striking air. Before he could re-adjust, something slammed into his face and sent him tumbling away. Considering it a fluke, he got back on his feet and wiped some blood off of his face preparing to get back at his opponent. His ear twitched as he heard the cloaked Nayo close in and this time both he _and_ Akamaru missed their mark. His eyes widened before something planted itself in his gut making him cough up blood and he was knocked away again.

Naruto blinked twice, processing the importance of a memory he just received from a shadow clone that dispelled back in the first quadrant.

Akamaru lashed out to defend Kiba and managed to land a hit on Nayo but when he tried to follow up he lost track of the Hidden Mist shinobi. _What the hell is going on? Even Akamaru is having a rough time it doesn't make sense!_ He could hear Nayo approaching yet again and this time the sound of a weapon being unsheathed. _Damn it._ Kiba cursed, trying to fixate the cloaker's position.

The next sounds they heard were most unexpected ones.

First a noise, something soaring through the air with admirable speed. Then, the sound of Belino screaming in agony.

She was on her knees, gaping at the senbon that pierced into her shoulder. Kiba winced, that brought back memories…

 _Flashback_

 _Inoanji's slave nodded. "Very good, now let's see you try this… Weapons art: Wind-style senbon!" He announced, launching volley number two._

 _The senbon needles were fueled with wind chakra and were propelled seemingly twice as fast. One of Naruto's clones avoided them all but the other two 'died.' The original Naruto and Kiba as well suffered one strike and winced at the additional power behind them. Akamaru's small size played its advantage out and he was unscathed._

 _The slave reached into a pouch to bring more senbon needles out for another volley delighted by their resilience. "Lightning-style senbons," He revealed as they left his fingers._

 _This time, none of them could even track the speed at which they were thrown. Kiba and Naruto both found themselves smothered by senbon and collapsed. The clone died, and even Akamaru was struck that time and laid down in agony._

 _Those needles didn't hurt as bad as the wind senbon, but they were impossibly fast… Kiba considered._ _And it's a lot worse when you get hit by half a dozen of them._

 _End Flashback_

Kiba smirked not even bothering to look away from the wounded kunoichi. "Looks like that training you got from Genma was worth it, Naruto."

He landed beside his teammate grinning cheekily. "Well I've been working hard ever since I found out I have a wind affinity. By the way, I think she was using a Genjutsu to disrupt your senses… I can't think of any other reason why you would have a hard time just because someone turned invisible. So, I decided it was time to intervene and put a stop to it."

While the Uzumaki was offering his explanation, Kiba sniffed out the cloaked Hidden Mist ninja, literally. Without warning he jolted his arm out and had the invisible shinobi in a chokehold with shadow snakes, a smirk plastered on his face as the other ninja undid his jutsu. "Enjoy your swim with the water snakes!" He mocked, tossing his opponent in the air before Akamaru drilled him with the tunneling fang and sent him in the lake.

"Naruto, what the hell have you been doing all this time?" He asked and the blonde rested his hands on the back of his head.

"Well for one thing I found the flag, released it and gave it to a shadow clone… Come on, we need to go meet Shikamaru at the tower. He's on his way there right now!"

 ** _A/N:_** **Okay so originally I had more in mind, I didn't bother to include the headliner fight I was going to sneak up on you guys with… I honestly found it very difficult to write.**

 **You may recall I had Neji speak of "Team Kurenai" and how he didn't want to fight them, Lee and Tenten agreeing completely. Well that's because I was going to have Itachi fight them, a team consisting of Yakumo Kurama from that Kurenai-centered filler arc in the first Naruto series, who had unfathomable Genjutsu prowess. I thought Yakumo versus Itachi would be interesting since the Uchiha has no real challenge in the Chunin exams but like I said I had a hard time with it.**

 **However, despite my choice to not include it, that fight DID happen, and will be spoke about next chapter… Which is not the prelims it's more like an intermission chapter between stage 2 and 3 at the tower.**

 **Hope yall enjoyed the appearance of Suigetsu (Yes that was him if you weren't sure, the one fighting Shikamaru) which I was hesitant to do since that meant a Hidden Mist team attended the exams… but I wanted to have him in the story. I actually thought the fight with Suigetsu's OC teammates was better though xD**

 **Apparently I find Genjutsu versus Genjutsu difficult to write but using Genjutsu from a single person like Belino… was much easier to pull off.**

 **As for Anko's boys… I did my best to entertain using all 3 of them and I know Shikamaru and Kiba had more than Naruto but he was involved in both fights, so I saw it as a balancer. This might be the most shadow clone heavy portion of the story so far, these two Forest of Death chapters… mostly because of their strategical value in this stage of the exam.**

 **Hopefully, Naruto and Kiba seemed very improved in this chapter, I made point of having them do more analyzing than in the past as they've grown since the beginning of the story and they are tougher than in canon I just haven't had the chance to display it (The Akatsuki emersion arc wasn't suitable for showcasing Genin growth)**

 **Shikamaru is also tougher, mostly because he has more than a basic shadow possession and kunai lol, and analytical as ever.**

 **I wasn't going to show Naruto's wind style senbon til the finals… but I decided I wanted him to use something new, after all Shika/Kiba have clan jutsus to go along with the snake ones so I don't want him to go without his own thing any longer. And as implied… Genma taught him the exact same thing he was tormented by waaay back in chapter 6.**

 **Anyhow hope yall enjoyed, Til next time!**


	21. Cinnamon Tea

**Chapter 21: Cinnamon Tea**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hello my readers! A bit of a break between the action as we dive into a brief intermission before the prelims, plenty to write about though!**

 **Thanks for the reviews as usual**

 **Now then, onto the story… By the way I love this chapter, blows my other non-action chapters away with such ease lol.**

 **:) Enjoy**

Itachi reached for the last dango stick but blinked in confusion as a feminine hand raced to the plate and took his food captive. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow at the rudeness in display but Anko just ignored him as she took a bite. Orochimaru chuckled at the exchange, some things never change it would seem.

"So," Anko swallowed. "You're plan is working… You made it to the preliminaries; now what?"

Orochimaru walked over to the door, glanced both directions in the hallway and shut the door, they were in the room Anko and (hopefully) her Genin were assigned in the tower. So far, there was no word from them but Itachi and the two Sand siblings already advanced so the three of them got together to discuss things of importance. The room had two good sized bunk beds, a desk, a pitifully small closet and a restroom with a shower included.

"For now, we continue to play along with the exam," Itachi supplied, he and Anko were sitting on the bottom bunk across from the other beds where Orochimaru was seated, since three in one spot was far too cramped and the Sannin wasn't really hungry.

Orochimaru nodded. "Yes, this cover option is no more if we don't have a team member in the finals. So if one of Itachi's 'teammates' don't make it, he will, and that will buy us a whole month."

Anko finished the dango and dropped the final stick before responding. "Are you sure the Akatsuki are buying this? I'm not saying there's a flaw in your story… But what if they're onto either of you guys?"

Itachi's lips stiffened. "Pein doesn't display emotion. He's used some accusatory language with us but ultimately he hasn't given the impression that he is certain of betrayal."

"He _is_ suspicious, there's no other reason why he would specifically have me target Tsunade of course. Luckily we managed to counter that move," Orochimaru added.

"Anko, we need you to keep us up to date with news regarding the Hidden Sand…" Itachi addressed, provoking a raised eyebrow from the kunoichi.

"Why's that?"

Orochimaru smirked at his ex-pupil. "We're looking forward to hearing news of Sasori's demise."

Anko's eyes widened and the Snake Sannin continued. "When we were dealing with Baki and his brats… We gave away information to lead the Sand right to him. The Kazekage will be most pleased with the Leaf when he visits to attend the finals," He chuckled.

"You _set up_ an Akatsuki… in the Land of Fire… after you two were working with him. Don't ya think you're going to arouse suspicion on yourself?!" Anko retorted.

"We're communicating with the Hokage and looking to make a few moves against them, we'll be exposed soon enough. It won't hurt if they find out a little sooner than our original intention," Itachi explained.

"I spoke with the _real_ Baki using a Shadow clone last night…" Orochimaru explained. "He's going to send the Sand the necessary information with a request that Pakura of the Scorch style lead the mission…"

"We know where Sasori is staying for the time being, waiting for us to return from our mission," Itachi added.

"And he is supposed to deliver Tsunade's body to the Hidden Rain village, while we return to other business," The Sannin finished.

"I thought this was to test your loyalty and collect on the bounty money…"

Orochimaru nodded. "Yes, but it would seem Pein has an ulterior motive as well. Itachi has a theory…"

She looked to the Uchiha who exhaled exhaustingly. "As you probably know already from Orochimaru's reports, Pein is not a single entity. Rather, he hides in the shadows and controls six other bodies using chakra receivers." Anko listened intently, wanting to soak in any knowledge she could about any Akatsuki, having already gone at it with Kakuzu… She knew she needed to be ready for anything.

"Each of the bodies he controls is limited to one type of ability for some reason. Also, because of his Rinnegan, he can see from the perspective of each one at the same time. Little else is known about Pein, and I do not know many of his abilities specifically but those are deductions I've made over the years," He explained and Anko nodded thoughtfully.

"The only thing I can think of that would lead Pein to seek Tsunade's body is to create a seventh entity; perhaps he believes her body could enhance a Rinnegan healing jutsu he's discovered."

Orochimaru frowned at that, he'd heard this theory of his partner's before but it bothered him deeply. Pein sought the control of tailed beasts and destruction in order to create a global government that held peace together through fear and _pain_. What sort of agenda could a person such as that have that involved _healing_ people? It never made sense to him, but at the same time he had no theory of his own to counter Itachi's.

"But why would Pein want to heal people?" Anko questioned, almost echoing her sensei's thoughts. "Isn't that kind of contradictive to all his goals?" She chuckled, though there was a lack of humor or amusement in her voice.

"I don't know, but so far it's the best I can think of," Itachi admitted.

"What if you're just thinking of the wrong ability?" Anko prompted, attracting a confused gaze from both of the disguised rogues. "What if he's seeking her strength?"

"Hm.." Orochimaru considered. "Pein is already capable of running a secret organization containing only S-Class criminals and surely could give myself or Jiraiya a run for our money in a fight. Not to mention, his Rinnegan offsets Itachi's Sharingan for the most part. I don't see why he would seek more strength or jutsu that didn't pertain directly to the Akatsuki's objectives." Itachi and Anko said nothing, drifting in thought as this unknown move Pein was trying to make puzzled their minds.

Itachi's eyes shot to the door as they heard voices and the knob suddenly turned. The rogue Uchiha shared a look with his "sensei" as the two resumed their façade as Sand shinobi that were nothing but acquainting themselves to Anko.

The door cracked open and the first figure stepped into the room, a blonde kid clad in a dirty orange jumpsuit with multiple tears in it from the exam. Orochimaru's eyes widened a little at how much the brat was beginning to resemble the Fourth Hokage. He silently clenched a fist in memory of the Fourth… not in resentment, but because thinking of 'Little Minato' always reminded the Sannin of his mistakes because of Danzo and what he almost did to Anko… A pair of Genin stepped in just behind the Uzumaki and Orochimaru easily recognized the resemblance and styles of clothing (despite that they too were wearing dirty and torn clothing) to determine which was the Inuzuka and which was the Nara. _So these are Anko's students… A pity I can't introduce myself properly._

 _"_ Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shikamaru Nara… A pleasure," Orochimaru greeted, drawing a shocked gaze from Anko and caused Itachi to allow a brief flicker of confusion to escape his emotional guard as they did not expect the Sannin to reveal that he knew their names without being introduced.

The three banged up Leaf Genin shared a variation of surprised gestures upon hearing what appeared to be a Sand _Jonin_ speaking their names unexpectedly. "Oh uh hey… you too… But who are you?"

The Sannin chuckled and he drank in the silent nervousness radiating off of Anko. "I am Baki of the Hidden Sand, and this is… Gaara," He replied gesturing Itachi on the last part after a slight but almost unnoticeable hesitation as he had remember the name Itachi was going by.

"We were just socializing with your sensei over some dango… Your team is making a name for yourself you know," Orochimaru told them.

Team six grunted in surprise. The Hidden Sand were talking about them? A mere Genin squad? Seeing their inquisitive looks, the Akatsuki spy chuckled. "Well not your own names… But there have been some rumors floating around about a promising Genin team from the Hidden Leaf that has already encountered multiple S-Class rogue ninja and survived. When I discovered it was Anko's team… my interest piqued."

The Genin accepted the praise with some embarrassment and didn't pay much mind to the fact "Gaara" was quietly analyzing each of them. "Well we haven't done that much…" Naruto admitted.

"It's a drag but I don't think we can take a lot of credit… Sensei's the one who was really put to the test on those missions," Shikamaru insisted.

Orochimaru smiled slightly at the humble response. _She's lucky; her team lacks a personality like Tokuro. None of them strive for extra attention or recognition and easily took the praise as a team. If she can keep this kind of chemistry they are bound to turn out far better than Team Orochimaru._

"Baki-sensei," Itachi spoke. "I don't intend to rush you, but you know we have to check on Temari…" The rogue lied, not enjoying the situation during their disguises.

"Well it was nice meeting you three… But Gaara and I have some things to tend to, and I wouldn't want to intervene with your reunion with your sensei after that tiring stage of the exam. We'll see each other again later," He promised as he walked out, Itachi giving a slight nod of acknowledgement before following him out and shutting the door behind him.

"That was kind of weird," Kiba commented.

"Yeah he was a little too interested for a foreign ninja don't you think?" Naruto agreed.

Shikamaru was inclined to agree. "I'd keep an eye on those guys Anko-sensei…"

Anko bursted up laughing at their comments and they just stared back blankly. They gave her a chance to get a hold of herself before waiting for an explanation to the obvious question. "It's nothing," Anko giggled, clearly not interested in sharing something she knew that they didn't.

Deciding they didn't care enough to press on it, they each went about their business. Shikamaru dropped his bag on the floor and nudged it under the bed with his foot, as bending over to deal with it would have been too much work. He then plopped onto the bed and adjusted a mildly comfortable pillow, wanting to get some rest after all they just went through against those Mist ninja.

Kiba nudged Akamaru awake, who was sleeping inside his hood and let him get on the bed on the other side of the narrow room where Anko was sitting. He then pulled off his bag and tossed it on the desk next to Naruto's, who was now emerging from the bathroom.

Anko sweatdropped. "Aren't you guys gonna tell me how it all went these past four days?"

"It's getting close to dark sensei, and we're all tired from our battles and our run trying to regroup at the tower," Kiba explained.

"Long story short… It was a drag, we got both flags and beat a skilled team from the Hidden Mist, and made it to the tower in good health," Shikamaru offered.

Anko pinched the bridge of her nose at their laziness; at least the Inuzuka's was only temporary and fatigue-induced. "Naruto…?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah I'll tell you all about it," He promised. "But first things first… I'm starving!"

She shot him a smile and stood up. "All right I suppose you've earned it. You guys want me to bring anything back?" She offered her other two Genin.

"Nah, no thanks I'm good Anko-sensei… I still have some leftovers."

"Leftovers?"

"Smoked rabbit," He answered, licking his lips.

She glanced at Naruto who shook his head as if to say ' _No, you don't want to try it'_ "Okay then. Shikamaru?" She turned to the Genin who still hadn't answered her and she found he was already _asleep_.

"Lazy bastard. Oh well, his loss c'mon Naruto."

* * *

 _Next day_

It was early in the day, around 9:30 or so. Anko was sitting at the desk reading a messenger scroll sent by the Hokage to inform her of the latest developments regarding the foundation's pursuit of her sensei and the possibility he may mistake Orochimaru's presence for an attempt to acquire the Sharingan or capture Naruto. _Great…_ She thought as she sipped her tea. _Just what I need, the foundation snooping around during these exams._ She had a passionate hatred for the foundation for everything she knew about them doing or attempting to do.

Orochimaru… Yusuke… Kinnoe and the other children that were rescued during the foundation's darkest hour… How many people have the foundation wronged over the years? Something told her if she knew the number she'd be unable to contain her rage and die trying to kill every last one of them by herself.

Anko took another sip of tea and gasped. Her mind had been racing as she went through the scroll and she hadn't even noticed something was missing when she took the first sip. She stood up and walked over to her jacket, searching one of the pockets before finding none of what she was looking for. "Shikamaru, I'm out of cinnamon packets."

"Hm? Uhh… Check that small pouch on the side of my backpack," He responded, keeping his eyes locked on the glass panes that exposed the sky for his favorite pass time.

As Anko began looking where he directed, Naruto didn't even bother to hide his disgust. "Wait wait Shikamaru drinks _tea_ now?"

"Yup," Their sensei answered for him. "You really should give it a second chance."

"No way!" Naruto refuted stubbornly. "The only things worse than that are coffee and expired milk… Or any combination of the two…"

Shikamaru allowed his eyes to shift over the Uzumaki momentarily. "I didn't like tea either, but she convinced me to try something a little different and it's actually pretty good."

"Forget it," Naruto reasserted, he'd tasted tea before… Never again… Ever…

Shikamaru shrugged and went back to his pass time as Anko closed his bag having found the packet and sat back down to fix her tea and finish reading the message.

Kiba scratched Akamaru's belly as he observed his other two teammates. Shikamaru was on the bottom bunk of the other bed, Naruto on the top whereas he and Akamaru had the top bunk on the other side and Anko had used the bottom bunk of that one.

Shikamaru was being… Shikamaru. Watching clouds and doing absolutely nothing was ideal and _perfect_ for the Nara. Hilariously, to Kiba anyway, Naruto was clearly going insane laying around with nothing to do. The over-energetic member of Team Six couldn't handle resting like this but from what Anko told them… there wasn't a lot to do at the tower.

Kiba chuckled as he recalled when the messenger delivered that scroll to Anko the Uzumaki pestered her to see what it was about out of curious boredom. "Yo Naruto, I'm gonna take Akamaru for a walk. Want to tag along?"

Naruto jumped down immediately. "Sure, what are we waiting for? Anything is better than this."

Anko casted an amused glance their way. "No invite for Shikamaru?" She asked even though she had a pretty good idea why.

"He doesn't need one! He lives for these moments!" Naruto objected, drawing laughter from Anko and Kiba at the Nara's expense who merely shrugged and went back to cloud watching.

* * *

Tokuro Hyuga sat at a desk in his own team's quarters, not unlike Anko –not that he knew anything of the sort– He even had a cup of tea of his own. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved a small packet of cinnamon and tore it open over the tea. Tossing the empty packet aside, he grabbed a spoon and stirred slowly as his mind drifted in misery.

 _Flashback_

 _An extremely pale hand gripping a spoon tapped down on his cup lightly, descending the drips into the rest of his tea before carefully setting the spoon down on a napkin and raised the cup to his lips allowing them to absorb the steaming hot fluid into his mouth. He exhaled his breath contently and delicately placed the drink down._

 _"_ _My apologies for being away so long my 'Little Hyuga,' Anko."_

 _Tokuro grit his teeth angrily to Orochimaru-sensei's delight. Anko portrayed a smirk at him as well while she tore open a cinnamon packet over her own tea and Orochimaru went on._

 _"_ _Jiraiya and I were held up longer than expected in the Land of Lightning," He explained. "But ultimately we succeeded in our mission and in a few days… Team Orochimaru will resume taking missions as per usual. Speaking of which, where is-"_

 _"_ _He wasn't home," Tokuro cut in. "I'm not certain he even got the message to meet with us here."_

 _"_ _Ah… A pity. I suppose I'll have to track him down later today then," He decided, then shifted his Genjutsu slanted pupils to Anko. "Unless you happen to know where he is?"_

 _"_ _Nope," She shook her head. "If he's not with both of us," She gestured a finger at Tokuro. "He's usually with neither of us."_

 _"_ _I see," Their sensei stated with simplicity. Suddenly he stood up alarmingly, causing Tokuro to instinctively activate his Byakugan._

 _Orochimaru chuckled at his male apprentice. "Relax, you misunderstand. I just remembered there was a meeting I was supposed attend… With Sarutobi-sensei."_

 _Tokuro nodded with a sigh of relief as he deactivated his Dojutsu. "I'm afraid I have to cut this little reunion short. I'll be looking for all three of you tomorrow," He informed them and walked out of the café._

 _Anko reached across the table and grabbed his cup, drawing a questioning eyebrow from her teammate who placed it in front of him. "I noticed you haven't tried the cinnamon thing yet," She explained with a faint smile. "It's good."_

 _End Flashback_

Tokuro stared at the black liquid as if it were the source of his problems. _Here I am… drinking the same thing today, as I have ever since._ It disgusted him that he had a non combative trait that had resided with him for all these years that stemmed directly from Orochimaru and Anko. After all, how could he allow even the slightest thing about him be like _them_? That was the question Tokuro was troubled by.

The Hyuga snorted. "It's just tea," He scolded himself. What did it matter how he picked up the habit? Cinnamon tea wasn't going to make him conduct insane experiments. Cinnamon tea wasn't going to make him enjoy blood in his hands. Cinnamon tea wasn't going to make him betray the village and cinnamon tea certainly would've make him become a _spy_ for the traitor himself.

He sighed and reached for the cup's handle. He must be allowing the stress eat at him with Anko being in the tower and his lack of sleep. All four nights he'd spent in the tower, he forced himself to stay awake and sleep during the afternoon in order to watch over things, sometimes with his Byakugan sometimes without.

Unfortunately, from what he could tell, Anko had conducted no suspicious activities to his dismay. Being forced to live in the same building was a good opportunity to bust her for the informant he believed her to be, but she hadn't shown any signs. If only he knew what kind of schedule or signals she and Orochimaru were using to contact one another.

Although he hadn't found anything suspicious on her end, he did notice that Baki of the Sand and her were seeming to get along well at an usual fast pace. Just because he despises his former teammate didn't mean he forgot he _knows_ her. And it certainly wasn't like her to socialize with a new acquaintance so frequently, not at all. That said, it relatively meant nothing. He needed her to do something shady, to catch her in the act of doing it, and have evidence. Then and only then would he have a lead to Orochimaru!

Tokuro tensed as the sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts. "Kin? Is that you?" He asked, knowing his other Genin left to get breakfast not ten minutes ago. As he turned around to look into the visible eye of a bandaged old man with a cane. "Oh, Lord Danzo, forgive me for my insolence," The Hyuga greeted.

"Tokuro Hyuga, as I recall you were a student of Orochimaru…" The village elder cut to the chase, provoking fire into Tokuro's pale eyes.

"I indeed was, regrettably."

Danzo merely nodded. "I am aware you hold a great amount of hatred for your former sensei, is that right?"

"Your informants have earned their keep…"

"So they do," Danzo agreed. "I've come to inform you that Orochimaru is here, in the Leaf village."

Tokuro's eyes widened with shock but Danzo went on before the Hyuga could reply. "How we know this is of no importance. But we believe he is still around, and he may be looking to steal the last Uchiha's Sharingan."

Tokuro bit his lip thoughtfully, that sounded like his sensei… He always did hold a deep admiration for the Uchiha Dojutsu. "I see, and you're expecting Anko and I to be on high alert since we know him."

" _No,_ not Anko," Danzo scolded. "I do not trust her with this information."

 _So I'm not the only one._ "Nor do I," Tokuro admitted.

"In fact, I want you to keep an eye on her as well. She could very well be his accomplice," the elder requested.

"As you desire."

* * *

Kin smiled at the Waterfall ninja heading opposite direction of her by in the hallway, the said ninja offered no returning hospitality and suspiciously kept his eyes locked with hers until they passed. _Jerk_ She inwardly muttered.

 _Why do all the foreign ninja have to act like none of us can get along? The Hidden Waterfall is an ally to the Leaf… and yet they STILL have a distrusting stick up their ass?_ She pondered.

Sighing, she reached the end of the hall and reached for the doorknob of Team Tokuro's quarters, but then she heard voices and hesitated instinctively.

"How we know this is of no importance. But we believe he is still around, and he may be looking to steal the last Uchiha's Sharingan," An older man, by the sound of it, revealed with a pinch of authority. Interested, Kin withheld from opening the door, fully aware she was basically spying now.

"I see, and you're expecting Anko and I to be on high alert since we know him," The voice of Kin's sensei responded a moment later.

" _No,_ not Anko," The other voice scolded. "I do not trust her with this information."

"Nor do I," Tokuro agreed with the older voice.

 _Why wouldn't they trust Anko?_ She wondered.

"In fact, I want you to keep an eye on her as well. She could very well be his accomplice," the elder requested. _Accomplice? Accomplice to what?_

"As you desire."

"If it becomes clear she is aiding him, kill her," The elder ordered the Hyuga.

Caught by complete surprise at his statement she grunted out a small croak that both men heard, she knew because the sound of footsteps racing toward the door from inside was all too apparent.

Thinking quickly, she opened the door and forced herself into a coughing fit, raising an arm to her mouth to help sell the possibility that she'd heard nothing and had just got there but the older man, who she now could see was _really_ old and taped in bandages trapped her in the doorway holding his cane to her throat, his visible eye slicing into her with distrust.

"Lord Danzo," Tokuro-sensei intervened, grabbing the cane and tugging it back slightly, allowing her to breath. "It's all right. She's one of mine…" He explained.

Danzo reluctantly removed the cane from Kin's throat completely and without an apology walked out into the hallway. "Keep what we talked about in mind," He said without turning back to gage her sensei's reaction.

"I will," He promised, and shut the door.

 _What the hell is going on!?_ Kin thought. _At least that fucking wacko gave me an excuse to be on edge. I'm not nearly good enough at masking my emotions to not alert sensei something was bothering me._ "Who was that psycho?!" She demanded in a panic, her sensei had to buy that the part of her that was freaking out right now was from that abrupt lashing from the elder.

Tokuro's eyes narrowed upon her. "That ' _psycho'_ was Lord Danzo; he's one of the highest authorities in the Hidden Leaf, a member of the council, the leader of the Foundation, and a veteran of the last two wars. He is a model shinobi, and is to be respected greatly."

"B-But you just watched him _attack_ me for no reason! What kind of paranoid nutjob does something like that to someone for entering their own room?"

"He knew you were spying," He retorted, closing his eyes.

"Don't you mean he _thought_ I was spying? There's a difference you know," She defended.

Tokuro let out a solemn sigh. "Your acting needs work," He noted. "It pains me to do this, Kin."

Her eyes widened. _He doesn't buy it._ When Tokuro's eyes re-opened, she was facing a Byakugan and a hand clasped over her mouth before she could even think to scream.

* * *

 _7:25pm_

Genma leaned back in his chair, absentmindedly chewing on a senbon with his arms crossed, awaiting the food. It was dinner time in the tower, and now the second stage of the exams were officially over, the final two victorious teams having arrived during this final day. He for his part was far more bored with all of this than the other Jonin instructors, after all… Team One was the first to successfully arrive with both flags in their possession, finishing in an astounding timeframe. Initially he was surprised but after Shino's explanation of how he "bugged" all the teams in order to track down the opposing team for their flag and key when their guard wasn't even up he realized it wasn't much of a challenge for a team with a smart, gifted Aburame heir.

Each day, more teams would come and certain Jonin of the losing teams would vanish. He found it mildly surprising that of the advancing teams, five resided with the Hidden Leaf. What was profoundly shocking however, was that _all three_ of the rookie teams made it. His, Anko's and unbelievably _Kakashi's_ would all be enjoying this dinner together. Then there was Gai's team, which was something he expected, having met them before. Neji Hyuga was a prodigy and some claimed him to be the strongest Genin alive. Tenten had outrageously good aim for her age, which particularly impressed Genma, him being the senbon king and all.

And then there was… Rock Lee…

Genma desperately wanted to accuse Gai of having Orochimaru produce a clone of himself in that secret lab the rogue Sannin had before his desertion several years back. But with Anko and Tokuro coming to this dinner, it seemed like a terrible idea. He didn't know much about Tokuro's team, though to his interest he had heard a rumor that his team's kunoichi was an avid senbon user.

In addition to the five Hidden Leaf squads, there was one Genin team each from the Hidden Sand, Waterfall, and Snow. The only thing he knew about the Snow team basically, was that their Jonin was really shy; he quickly picked up on this while playing poker with her and some of the other Jonin as they waited for the conclusion of the first exam. He was rather accustomed to that trait though, with all the time he'd spent trying to help Hinata improve on her character. Of course, what good would that information be for his team? _'The Snow team's Jonin instructor is really shy. That's all I know. Go get em!'_ Completely useless.

Unfortunately, he had zero information to give for the Sand and Waterfall teams too, so all he could do is hope two things. The first, being that they hurry up and serve this dinner already. The second, being that his Genin be matched up with fellow Leaf ninja so they had a heads up on what they were facing.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Choji, who was sitting beside Genma waved. "Over here guys, we saved some seats."

"Ah man… They still haven't served the food?" Naruto muttered as he followed his teammates with his hands resting behind his head.

Kiba chuckled. "They would've been done cooking about twenty minutes ago but someone told them you were attending so they had to make preparations for double the amount of food."

"Choji _and_ Naruto? Triple the amount of food…" Shikamaru corrected as he sat by his Akimichi friend.

"Chip?" The rotund Genin offered, and the Nara smiled and accepted it.

"Thanks. Nice to see you guys made it too!" He added with a hint of excitement.

"Was there any doubt?" Choji replied rhetorically.

Naruto took a seat in between Hinata and the other side of Genma. Unbeknownst to him, the reason why Hinata wasn't sitting right next to her sensei was because she wanted him to sit there. Ironically, he sat there in order to be at Genma's left.

"Genma-sensei!" He greeted.

"Hey Naruto," The senbon expert greeted, still chewing on one, getting more and more annoyed the chefs weren't producing something else to chew on.

Hinata tapped her fingers nervously and didn't dare look up as she greeted him. "H-hell-lo, Naruto."

As if he had been completely oblivious that she was there he twirled around his seat and smiled brightly. "Oh hey Hinata," he responded and the smile itself burnt the Hyuga's cheeks to a crisp.

Kiba, who was seated on the other side of Choji with an empty chair between him and Shino looked over at the stoic Aburame. "Hey Shino, why're you being so distant, man?"

"I am not known to be social. Therefore, it is impractical for me to sit between those are enjoy to be social. Because of this, I intentionally left two empty seats between Choji and I."

Kiba sweatdropped. "Ahh… I guess that makes sense." _Why is it that this guy's sentences always sound like some kind of formula or hypothesis!?_

Naruto turned his voice down to a whisper and leaned towards Genma. "I used the Wind style senbon in the second exam."

Genma turned to him with a mixture of pride and uncertainty in his eyes. "Are you sure you can control that well enough to make it hit the mark every time yet? You don't want to waste chakra on a rampant needle that shoots off into the sky somewhere," He reminded.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, to be honest I might not have it mastered all the way just yet… But I've come a long way!"

Genma nodded. "That you have. Still, you have to be careful with your use of it in battle… That holds a lot of potential for wasted chakra." _Even with your extra chakra. I wonder if he even knows how to tap into that at will yet._

"Don't worry sensei, I know," He assured.

"Uh N-Naruto?" Hinata forced herself to speak. _I don't even want to talk about this but I can't think of anything else. It's so hard to think when he's around._

Spinning around to face her he replied, "Yeah?"

"I… Was just wondering," she paused and swallowed. _I hope he doesn't take this wrong… I don't want to offend him._ "How mu-uch have y-you improved? Since the academy?"

Smirking, the Uzumaki punched an open hand with his other fist. "A looottt," He emphasized. "But I'm not going to tell you very much, I've gotta keep secrets for the exam! Anko-sensei would kill me if I told you all about our team."

"Ohh… Of course, how silly of me," She replied softly.

"OH! By the way, thanks for the help back in the written exam! I never would've passed without you," The Shadow Clone expert smiled brightly.

Hinata blushed. "That's okay," She insisted, lips curving upwards. "I'll always help you."

Meanwhile, in the hallway leading to the dining area, two kunoichi and an annoyed Uchiha strolled their way through.

"You're kidding!" Ino squealed at the blushing Haruno.

"Well he did help us out back in the forest… And he's always been nice to me and I'm not interested in Sasuke anymore so I thought maybe I could try being nice and just talking to him and stuff… See what happens."

"I'm right here you know," Sasuke interjected.

"Aw… Sasuke finally getting jealous that he's not the center of our attention?" Ino suggested in a cute voice without bothering to turn around and look at him.

"Of course not," The Uchiha huffed. "I just find it irritating that she throws my name around like that as if I wasn't here.

Sakura and Ino exchanged a glance. A sly smile formed on Ino's lips and became contagious as Sakura acquired it as well and nodded. To Sasuke's extreme annoyance, both chose not to say anything to that comment and resumed their own… As if he wasn't there and hadn't said anything, just to play with his emotions. This was their way of paying the Uchiha back for all the times he played with their emotions, although in a completely different way.

"So… Sakura, you gonna sit by him?"

"Maybe…" She responded coyly producing a snicker from the blonde as the trio entered the room.

Kakashi was still in the hospital from his injury situation, so he had never made a trip to the tower and wouldn't see his Genin partake in the exams at all unless one of them made it to the finals. Sasuke intentionally split off from his teammates' company the moment he entered the room, finding a spot where several vacant seats were so he could hopefully eat in solitude.

A cheer from a certain Akimichi shamelessly attracted gazes from foreign shinobi as the kitchen doors parted and the waiters and waitresses began bringing platters worth of food in, and most of the shinobi in the room stood to begin dishing themselves something up.

As this was going on, another team entered the room. "So, where we sitting guys?" A makeup covered face prompted.

"I don't really care… You guys chose," Temari offered.

Itachi's eyes immediately noticed his little brother sit down for the second time, with a full plate and a glass of ginger ale, once again away from everyone else. "There," He pointed at his actual sibling for his 'siblings.'

His 'sensei' chuckled. "Is that really such a good idea?"

"An interesting voice of caution… coming from the guy who was all too willing to introduce himself to Anko's Genin," The Uchiha retorted.

Orochimaru laughed a little more visibly this time. "I didn't go out of my way to do so; they just happened to arrive during our meeting."

"You didn't have to let them know you knew who they were," He countered pointedly.

"Perhaps," The Sannin conceded. "Curiosity can be very influential can it not?"

Ino rested her arm around her reconciled best friend reassuringly. "Cheer up; I'm sure it's nothing!"

Sakura was reluctant to agree, as she watched Naruto and Hinata sitting together, Hinata blushing and both smiling about something. "Y-Yeah you're probably right."

Ino giggled as they sat down. "Look at you, worrying about him getting interested in someone else after all the times you said no."

Sakura sighed. "Well I still don't know if I'm interested it's just… I _really_ don't need a new disappointment right now. He's always wanted to go on a date with me and I always wanted to go on a date with Sasuke! Now that I actually am thinking about giving him a chance he's sitting with the girl who's liked him for years and _both_ of them are smiling at each other!"

"Like I said, I'm sure it's nothing!"

"Yeah.. yeah you're probably right," Sakura said for the second time.

Ino, realizing her friend was probably going to let this bother her the entire dinner, chose to take more decisive action. "Then again…" She began, making Sakura's gaze jolt to her attention. "Maybe you finally scared him off with your big forehead!"

"INO-PIIIG!"

Whereas most people in the room were watching the sudden screaming match between Ino and Sakura, (Sasuke was not among said people) Tokuro ignored them and sat down by the two male Genin from his team.

"Sensei?"

"Yes?"

"Did Kin tell you where she was going? We haven't seen her since we got up… I wasn't worried cause I figured she'd be here but I think just about everyone's shown up except her."

"Yeah, weird isn't it? She never disappears like this!"

"No, I'm in the dark just as you," their sensei claimed, but Kiba overheard the conversation.

"Akamaru… Wasn't that girl we met at the hospital named Kin?" He whispered. "I thought so," He muttered upon getting a nod from the ninja hound.

"If she doesn't show up soon I think I'll offer them your services all right?" Akamaru gave him a bark of agreement and the Inuzuka dove back into his steak.

"Is there something on your mind?" Sasuke asked sarcastically at the Sand ninja that seemed to keep looking his way. "Or is my food really that interesting?"

Itachi wanted to answer, but he knew his younger brother had given him an incredulous look upon hearing his voice when he spoke with the proctor of the first exam, and so he hesitated.

Orochimaru chuckled, but chose to bail his partner out. "I think what my Genin is wondering… Is why aren't you seated with your teammates? He's far too polite to produce such a rude question."

Sasuke looked 'Baki' in the eye, and answered. "That doesn't appear to be your business."

"So it isn't," Orochimaru agreed. "But we didn't present you an inquiry, you simply demanded one."

Sasuke scowled at the Sand Jonin. "If you have a problem, then leave. I was here first."

Temari and Kankuro exchanged a look, not eager to involve themselves in their temporary associates affairs.

Orochimaru returned to his meal, and began to saw off a piece of his steak. "That is not necessary," He stated and Itachi begrudgingly returned his focus to the food as well. There was no point in making enemies with his brother, especially considering he'd already did that a long time ago.

"We've got more refreshments ready!" A waitress shouted before heading back into the kitchen.

Lee got up, his sight on some of the caffeinated beverages. "Lee! Grab me a root beer!" Tenten shouted before he walked too far. The spandex clad Taijutsu specialist spun around with a creepy smile and shot his teammate a thumbs up and resumed his "mission."

"Neji, something wrong?" She then addressed, seeing he had barely touched his food, and appeared to be deep in thought.

Gai studied his stoic prodigy's face carefully and sided with Tenten. "If you're worried about something, let us know."

He shot his teacher a glance and then looked back at Tenten. "Did either of you notice Team Kurenai is absent?" Gai and Tenten shared a stunned look.

"The proctor from the second exam… Kinnoe or whatever it was, said that eight teams would advance."

The bun haired kunoichi scanned the room, counting. "Anko's team, Kakashi's, Tokuro's, Genma's, the Sand team, Snow, Waterfall and… us."

"Precisely. And if all eight teams are present now, that means one of the other seven found a way to beat Yakumo's Genjutsu. One of these teams is extremely dangerous, or at the very least one of their team members is," Neji concluded.

"Hmm…" Gai considered, resting his chin in one hand. _Someone that's able to counter the Kurama clan's Genjutsu should not be at Genin level. Whoever it was should be able to beat everyone with utmost ease! I can only hope that none of my team is forced to face such an opponent in the preliminaries._

"What in the world is Anko-sensei doing?" Naruto wondered.

"Yeah now that you mention it… I think she's the only one who isn't here," Shikamaru commented.

"I wouldn't worry about her," Genma cut in.

Naruto rested his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Yeah you're right I guess."

"Excuse me, miss?" Tokuro heard, pretending to ignore them as he ate. "Would you happen to have any cinnamon in the kitchen? I prefer to mix it in my tea." Tokuro's eyes shot up and stared at the source of the voice with disbelief.

It was the same Sand Jonin… Baki!

"I'll check for you, sir! Be right back," The waitress scampered off.

 _A Sand Jonin that's been talking to Anko frequently everyday that she supposedly did not know prior to the Chunin exams… That drinks cinnamon tea? Could he have picked it up from her within these last few days in the tower? Is it just a stupid coincidence? Or is it HIM…?_ Tokuro's mind raced. _No… No it has to be him! A coincidence like that coming around the same day Danzo informs me Orochimaru is suspected to be within the village? Unlikely._

"Sensei? You all right?"

"I'm fine… I think I'm going to go find Kin, enjoy the rest of your dinner," The Hyuga excused himself. _I need to speak to Danzo about this development immediately._ He processed, rushing out of the diner. As he exited the room, he glared in passing at a smiling Anko, whose expression turned a one-eighty and returned the glare.

Back in the diner, "Hey," Kiba called out to Tokuro's Genin. "I can help you find her!"

Tokuro's disciples exchanged a knowing look and Kiba awaited a reply impatiently. "No, we don't need a favor from the likes of you!"

"What was that?" Kiba growled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Tokuro Hyuga is our sensei," The other one cut in. "Do we need to spell it out?"

"Tokuro… Hyuga? So what."

"You mean you don't know?" One of them raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything? Your teammate is missing and I'm an Inuzuka. I was just trying to be nice, but I guess if you don't care about your teammate I can just go by myself."

"Kiba," A commanding voice presented itself.

Anko walked up to where her ex-teammate's Genin were seated, pity in her eyes. "Don't waste your time trying to reason with these two. There's no point; they aren't going to listen to anything you say. Now, what about someone missing?"

Kiba looked at her inquisitively, wondering what these two had against him, but pushed it aside to answer the question. "I met their teammate when we were at the hospital for Kakashi-sensei. Her name is Kin, and no one seems to know where she is right now."

 _Kin?_ Anko thought, a small hint of worry flickering in her eyes. "Okay, let's go then. You and I."

"Sure you don't want our help sensei?" Naruto asked, standing up.

"Sit down Naruto… The last thing I need is this trouble," Shikamaru complained.

A slight chuckle left Anko's lips. "No, it's fine. Enjoy your dinner boys… Come on Kiba."

"Hey you're not going without us! Like we would ever trust you!"

"What's their problem sensei?" Kiba asked, his anger rising through the roof at this point.

"Fine," Anko agreed. "It doesn't matter to me if you come, but you'll only get in the way," She conceded.

Tokuro's Genin both snarled and followed the Jonin and her Genin out the diner, and another watched them exit from the corner of his eye.

"Hm, Kin sounds very familiar to me," Orochimaru muttered to himself, and took a sip of his tea.

* * *

"Lord Danzo, Tokuro Hyuga has come to see you on behalf of the hunt of Orochimaru. He claims it's urgent."

 _Already?_ The head of the foundation thought. "Send him in."

* * *

Tokuro's Genin insisted on being behind their fellow Leaf ninja the entire time they walked. _To what extent have you poisoned their minds against me, Tokuro? If these two hate me so much, have you been using Kin to search for "evidence" against me these past couple years? It looks like I was right to see her less frequently since they assigned her to your squad._

"Sensei," Kiba interrupted her spree of thoughts, sniffing the air. "Her scent is definitely coming from that last door in the corner," He announced.

"What? No way that's ridiculous! Why would she go back to our room instead of the dinner? And Why wouldn't Tokuro-sensei have looked there like, first thing!" One of Tokuro's brats rejected.

Before the Inuzuka could retort, Anko grasped his shoulder and shook her head. "Ignore them."

They proceeded down the hall and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Anko wordlessly looked to the Hyuga's Genin but they shared a look of their own. "We don't have it."

Rolling her eyes, she kicked the door down, to the alarm of all three Genin. "Kin's safety is more important than a _door_. Get with the program…" She walked in and Kiba was first behind her. Akamaru rushed over to the closet and barked three times.

"In there?" Kiba asked incredulously and Anko slid the door open. Sure enough, Kin was slumped against the wall under several hanging jackets and shirts, sound asleep.

"Kin!" Her teammates shouted wide-eyed. One of them rushed into the closet and tried to wake her. "Kin! Wake up…" He slapped her face lightly. "C'mon wake up… WAKE UP!"

"It's probably a Genjutsu you idiot," Anko berated, her first show of hostility towards Tokuro's apprentices.

"Er right… RELEASE!" He declared with a hand on her shoulder.

Groggily, Kin's eyelids opened and blinked a couple times confusedly. "Kin, are you all right?"

"I… I don't know. What happened?" She asked rubbing her forehead, feeling a vibrant pain that was sure to demand a few aspirin.

"We… Don't know," Her teammate replied. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Anko watched her carefully as Kin stared at the floor in deep thought, trying to recall just that.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Your acting needs work," Tokuro noted. "It pains me to do this, Kin."_

 _Her eyes widened. He wasn't buying it! When Tokuro's eyes re-opened, she was facing a Byakugan and a hand clasped over her mouth before she could even think to scream._

 _"_ _I'm afraid another opportunity to capture or kill Orochimaru may not ever come along again. I could die any day; that is the risk a shinobi comes to accept. But if he's here now… I WILL get him."_

 _He looked into Kin's fearful eyes, securing his lock over her mouth as she began to resist. "If I allow him to escape now, I could die before another opportunity arises. So there's no way I'm going to take any risks," He explained sternly, and jabbed her in several places poking certain chakra points with his Jyuken._

 _Deactivating what he felt necessary he relented, but kept his other hand secured around her mouth. "I am aware that Anko was the one to bring you into the village… That is why I've never completely trusted you. Judging by today, it is obvious I was right not to. Still, on the off chance you listening to our conversation had nothing to do with them… I won't kill you."_

 _End Flashback_

"I-I can't… I'm drawing a blank."

"I'll get you some water!" One of her teammates told her, grabbing a plastic cup out of a backpack on one of the beds and rushing into the bathroom to access the faucet.

"Kin…" Anko spoke softly.

"Yes?" The distressed kunoichi answered.

"I want to talk to you for a moment in private," She said with pleading eyes. _You can trust me…_

"O-Okay," She agreed anxiously.

"But Kin!" One of the others began to argue, not trusting Anko even though so far she and her Genin had only shown good intentions.

"It's fine, don't worry… I've known Anko a long time. I just never talk about it because I don't want to anger Tokuro-sensei. Go on, I'll be all right."

Reluctantly, Kiba and Kin's teammates filed out of the room with Akamaru trailing behind.

Anko offered the teen a hand and brought her to her feet. "Let's sit," She decided and they plopped down on one of the mattresses.

Kin gulped. "You don't believe that I don't remember anything, huh?"

"Not a chance," Anko smiled back, and tugged at Kin's sleeve, revealing a dot from one of Tokuro's strikes at her chakra network.

" _Oh_ ," Kin realized. "I didn't want to tell them because I doubted they would've believed me… I can't even believe it!" She justified her lying.

Anko nodded. "I'm having a hard time believing it too… I never took him for the type to attack his comrade. I was his Genin teammate you know?" Kin nodded.

"We used to be good friends… Now he hates me."

Kin exhaled sharply. "He didn't do this without a reason, I know that much."

Anko raised an eyebrow down at her. Was she about to defend her sensei attacking her? "Anko… I was coming back to this room earlier today," she began and the purple haired Jonin simply nodded.

"And I heard voices when I reached the door. Not recognizing one, I hesitated and then I got caught spying on their conversation."

"Who's 'they'?"

"Tokuro-sensei… and Danzo or something like that."

"Danzo?" Anko questioned. Where'd she hear that name before…?

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Orochimaru had a separate message to convey to you that he requested be kept between us alone."_

 _Sarutobi scratched his beard in thought. This was a surprise to him but he gestured her to go on. "He wished to warn you that both he and Itachi would be visiting the hidden leaf soon."_

 _"_ _What!?" The third Hokage cringed._

 _"_ _He told me he'd be sure to secretly contact me while in the village and said he has a plan to bring Itachi after Danzo. Apparently Itachi has an arrangement with Danzo but doesn't actually trust him, and he is going to use some of the lies surrounding his exile to direct everything to Danzo being the man who exposed Orochimaru's 'illegal activities' that we staged."_

 _I better watch my tongue… neither Orochimaru nor Anko know of the sad truth of Itachi Uchiha. The third Hokage reminded himself._

 _"_ _A good plan… Though you don't understand, Orochimaru is trying to use his current affiliation with the Akatsuki to solve the problem Danzo poses for the hidden leaf."_

 _Anko blinked. "What?"_

 _"_ _Danzo is a power hungry village elder that we suspect is preparing to make a push for becoming the next Hokage… even if he has to have me assassinated or perhaps even make a deal with a rival village to enact war on our village. Orochimaru sees Itachi as a tool to solve that problem even if Itachi doesn't realize what's actually going on."_

 _"_ _Isn't allowing Itachi kill a village elder an extreme method? Not that I'm all that surprised my sensei would come up with a scheme like that."_

 _End Flashback_

"The village elder?"

"Yeah… One eye, wrapped in a bunch of bandages," Kin described. "Tokuro said he's on the council and is the head of the Foundation or something like that. I've never encountered him before but when they discovered my presence he lashed out at me. Sensei got him to back off and he left but then sensei weakened my chakra system and knocked me out in a Genjutsu induced sleep."

 _Head of the Foundation?_ Anko frowned. "What were they talking about?"

"Why?" Kin hesitated.

"Kin… If they were talking about something in secret behind closed doors and went to this much trouble to keep you quiet, it's important and I need to know based on what's taking place in our village right now."

"Would that something that's taking place have to do with Orochimaru?" She questioned with widened eyes.

"…Yes," The Jonin replied.

"The only reason why they realized I was there… was because I made a noise during my shock when they were talking about how they don't trust you and if they found evidence you were aiding Orochimaru, Tokuro-sensei was to kill you."

Anko gazed at the floor sadly. "Toke didn't hesitate or object did he?"

"I… Don't know I was too busy being attacked by Danzo."

Anko wrapped one arm around the younger kunoichi and pulled her into a slight embrace. "I'm glad you still trust me kid… I can tell you were conflicted between myself and Toke. I'd like to return that trust and tell you what I'm going to do now, but the Hokage wouldn't be happy with me if I did."

Kin nodded in understanding as Anko released her. "Do you think we can trust your teammates to lie to your sensei?"

"Why?" Kin questioned.

"Well, I had a few ideas how to deal with Toke finding out you've been released from the Genjutsu… But none of them guarantee he won't attack you again or your whole team if he found out I was in this room…"

"Honestly… putting it in their hands is a gamble, even if I showed them these marks from my chakra points being struck, they might not believe me," She admitted.

"In that case… I'm taking you to the Hokage."

* * *

"Hiruzen… I have a suspect of who Orochimaru is disguised as, provided by Tokuro Hyuga. And now I wish to attend the exams to keep an eye on him."

"Oh?" Lord Third replied. "And who does Tokuro suspect?"

"One of the Sand ninja, Baki."

 _Damn it… How did Tokuro know?_

 ** _A/N:_** **Believe it or not… there were 34 characters in this chapter if you count the Waterfall and Snow teams as 4 each even though they were just sort of…there lol. 8 teams of 4 (counting senseis) 32 characters minus Kakashi. Add Akamaru, the waitress that actually talked, and Danzo ya should get 34 wow.**

 **That's gotta be a record for me, I did what I could to bring interactions among just about everyone other than the Waterfall/Snow OC teams that we simply don't care about lol. My apologies if the dinner wasn't enjoyable enough due to the fact no one got focused on for a long time period but what can I say there's a ton of people I wanted to include them all.**

 **Why haven't I done names/descriptions for Kin's teammates? I have no plan for them to take part in this story after the Chunin exams. I can't say anything more than that about it at this time, for spoiler reasons.**

 **Didn't expect this to get so long lol Til next time**


	22. The Young and the Fateful

**Chapter 22: The Young and the Fateful**

 ** _A/N:_** **Back to the Chunin exams! Start of the prelims of course, and as mentioned before a few chapters ago in the A/N… they are not conducted the same way as in canon. You'll see for yourself momentarily though.**

 **I almost wrote an entire flashback chapter to post instead, and I even told someone in a PM that I was going to… But it didn't come out how I wanted and I felt less than enthusiastic about posting it so I may not ever put it out. If I do, it'll be redone, but I doubt it cause I don't want to put it in between Chunin exam chapters and if I did it after the exams, it would be much less meaningful.**

 **Now I'm just rambling since no one else knows what that unposted chapter contained lol but whatever let's just get on with the story then shall we..**

 **Enjoy!**

"YOU IDIOTS!" Anko roared as she stepped into their team's quarters.

A startled Naruto grunted in shock as he haphazardly rolled out of bed and dropped off the top bunk painfully. "Ow.." He rubbed his forehead. Kiba glanced at his teammate sympathetically as he let out an audible yawn and Akamaru pulled himself on all fours and shook his body rapidly like any dog.

Anko ignored them and focused on Shikamaru… Who was _still_ snoring. "HEY!" She screamed in his ear. The final member of Team Six jolted up and hit his head on the "ceiling" that was the structure of Naruto's bunk.

" _Sensei!_ Don't be a drag!" He complained, trying to rub the pain out.

Anko dropped the bags she was carrying and rested her hands on her hips. "Would someone like to explain to me WHY you're all still asleep?"

Her three Genin, one of which was dragging himself off the floor, stared back at her dumbly for three seconds before Kiba's feral eyes widened. "Wait, what time is it!?"

"Maybe you'd know that… if you weren't a bunch of idiots," Anko replied harshly as Naruto scrambled over to the clock's view.

"11:32," The blonde read.

"11:32?" Kiba repeated.

"11:32!?"

Kiba and Naruto rushed to their bags to retrieve their clothes in a panicked state while their other teammate yawned and Anko focused on him to ' _motivate'_ him. She ripped the blankets off of the Nara and grasped the protesting Genin by the shoulder before pulling him off the bed and sprawling the dejected Genin on the floor.

"All right, all right!" The lazy genius put his hands up as his sensei pulled a threatening fist back.

He too rushed to change, and Anko relaxed her posture to a degree. All the while, none of the boys noticed Anko hadn't come alone. Another kunoichi stood in the just outside the doorway, blushing as she slipped away from the scene and waited in the hall feeling very uncomfortable. The blonde kid literally slept in just his boxers; she didn't need to know that! Nor did she want to know there were frogs on them.

"What's the matter? None of them your type?" Anko teased, stepping out as well.

"Shut up Anko," she advised, turning away but Anko only laughed.

"Yup, turn those heels the other way, hide your face! Wouldn't want me to see that blush!"

" _Shut up!"_ She plead.

"Just tell me… Which one is it…?" She suggested playfully.

Wisely, the young kunoichi simply kept her mouth locked shut and ignored the Jonin-sensei who chuckled amusedly and went back inside the room, having decided she could wait for a more public opportunity to torture poor Kin some more, and also to make sure her idiots were still in a hurry.

"We're ready sensei!" Kiba assured dutifully.

"Good," She said simply and tossed each of them one of the shopping bags she'd been carrying on the way over.

Upon seeing the confusion radiating off each kid's face see glared back, still in a hurry thanks to them. "Hurry up and put them on!" The hustle returned to each of their demeanor as they all realized she was still pissed.

An angry Anko did not bode well for anyone; that was one of the first things they learned from her, even though it wasn't an actual lesson in any of her teachings. It simply had its own way of being engraved into her pupil's brains.

The first time any of them saw it, was when Kiba was in the hospital from the Genjutsu during their Genin test. Shikamaru and Naruto watched her attempt to plunge Jiraiya believing he was stalking her for his 'research.' From that moment on, those two knew they would have to be careful not to be the target of their sensei's fury. Kiba on the other hand…

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Uh… what's wrong with him?" Naruto asked._

 _Kiba was seated on a bench just outside one of the training grounds, in a pained trance. He stared off into the space, teeth chattering quietly and Akamaru whined, clawing at his leg trying to provoke reaction._

 _"_ _Yo, Kiba?" Shikamaru tried, snapping his fingers in front of his face._

 _Nothing. No reaction at all._

 _End Flashback_

On the other hand, Anko's anger usually passed very quickly. It was like a storm that came in to ruin her somewhat insane but cheerful personality. But hey, her personal quirks and weirdness actually grew on her Genin.

Kin grunted in surprise as Anko and the boys joined her in the hall, the three Genin with an additional piece of attire onto their usual outfits. Each of them were now wearing long sleeved, oversized jackets over their other clothes (though Kiba discarded his sweatshirt first) and each of them seemed to be testing the new clothing for any possible limitations it could bring upon, surprised not to find any.

"Why didn't I get mine in black?" Naruto questioned, staring at his two teammates' identical, dark versions of his own getup.

"You have a thing for bright colors," Anko explained cheerfully. Ah, the imminent mood swing back to normal.

The Uzumaki's face wrinkled up slightly. "No.. I have a thing for _orange,_ not "bright colors," sensei."

"Sorry, but I don't recall you ever declaring that ' _Naruto Uzumaki hates purple!'"_ She retorted in mockingly dramatic tone.

Naruto sighed but smiled anyway. "Oh well, it couldn't hurt to change it up I guess. Thanks sensei." It was just a color, besides he still would get to wear orange under it anyway.

Kiba meanwhile seemed impressed. "Despite their appearance… they really don't have any negative effect on my movements! Although the bagginess of the sleeves is kind of annoying."

"I thought you might like that!" Anko smiled. "I had all three of those specially tailored for you… they're just like mine."

Shikamaru shot a wondering glance at her jacket and compared it to his and his teammate's own. "Say, sensei? You didn't do this just for the sake of matching did you?" He stated in a knowing voice.

"Nope," She smirked. "Let's just say I was thinking ahead. There's a chance you'll face opponents that are somewhat familiar with your abilities already. Team's seven and nine in particular, thanks to that mission we encountered the Akatsuki on."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "But what about _this_ changes anything?"

"In the past, when facing someone that doesn't know you… You've found it easy to catch them by surprise with Snake jutsus given the proper window, correct?" She hinted.

"And the member's of those teams have already seen us use them," Shikamaru added.

A proverbial light bulb seemed to surge above Naruto's head. "Oh… So that's why you wear sleeves like that most the time, to give the snakes room, and eliminate the visual warning people get from seeing our sleeve bulk up and wrinkle when the snakes are emerging."

"Exactly," She confirmed and the group and five began walking. The preliminary tournament started at noon, and Anko had a right to fume considering how those three were sound asleep with less than half an hour of time left to get there.

"Hey Kin, what're you doing here?" Kiba asked in a friendly voice, wondering what happened the previous night after Anko wanted to talk to the teenage kunoichi alone. Naruto and Shikamaru's eyes peered over to the unfamiliar face as well.

"Hi," She greeted them all with a halfhearted smile. Yesterday was hell for her; she didn't sleep very well in the foreign atmosphere of a guest room in the Hokage's, though she felt honored to be there. On the bright side, she must've had several hours of sleep under sensei's Genjutsu so she didn't need as much rest anyway. Anko had remained at her side the whole night, not getting any sleep until she woke up… But the Jonin insisted, deciding protecting her from Tokuro-sensei was her responsibility.

"Well…" She began, but Anko interrupted.

"Kin is apart of Team Six as of now," She explained. "On a temporary basis."

Kin stared at her inquisitively, unaware of any change to her status as a member of Team Tokuro. Seeing the confusion, the Snake Mistress decided to answer. "I asked the Hokage to place you under me officially, at least until after these Chunin exams."

"Why? What happened?" Naruto asked. "I mean… You didn't come back to our quarters last night, did you Anko-sensei?"

"Yeah… She wasn't here to wake us up and yet _we_ get yelled at for it," Shikamaru pointed out.

"Sorry?" Anko stated with a raised eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that my Genin were so incompetent they needed help from their sensei to get up somewhat early for the most important day of their lives, thus far," She chided.

Kin laughed at the banter, it was refreshing considering how Tokuro-sensei and her teammates rarely joked around. They were serious most of the time, and well… the Hyuga could be really dull when he chose to be.

"But what happened?" Naruto repeated, looking Kin's way.

"Uhh…"

Anko stopped them in their tracks and glared at her team with the most serious look they'd seen on her face. "You don't mention any of this to anyone, got it?"

The boys shared an exchange of serious looks themselves and waited for Anko to go on with anticipation. Kin's lips clenched anxiously as her new sensei was going to spill what was going on. "Kin's sensei is the one who attacked her yesterday," She informed, glancing Kiba's way since he had been present when she found the kunoichi.

"What kind of jerkass would do that!?" Naruto popped, as the three of them shifted their shocked gazes from one kunoichi to the other.

Anko had to fight off an amused smile at the random term the Uzumaki used for Toke that she'd never heard him say before and maintain her icy resolve. "His name is Tokuro Hyuga, and he was my teammate as a Genin. Do not say anything to him; do not approach him. I have the situation in hand."

"But WHY? Why would he attack his own Genin?" Kiba demanded, the betrayal of a comrade was the highest offense to an Inuzuka's code. For a teacher to intentionally harm a student, put them under a Genjutsu and lock them in the closet… It was revolting.

"I overheard part of a conversation he was having with a high ranking village official that I wasn't supposed to hear. It was punishment," The Tsuchi told, and it was mostly true. It hadn't been a punishment at all, he was just trying to keep her out of the way and quiet so he could pursue Orochimaru, but she couldn't tell them that.

"That's harsh…" Naruto replied, stunned that a Jonin-sensei from his village would conduct himself like that.

"You mean disgusting!" Kiba corrected with a repulsed facial expression to amplify it.

"Yeah it is.." Anko was inclined to agree. "But when we enter that arena, none of you will be hostile, understand?"

"But sensei-"Kiba began to argue but was silenced by her glare.

"I don't want him to know that you three are aware of what he did. He's dangerous… So don't get yourselves involved."

"Who cares!" Naruto smacked a fist into his other hand. "I'm not afraid of some backstabbing loser like him. And it's not like he's nearly as scary or tough as that Akatsuki guy, right?"

Anko sighed. "Naruto, just do what I ask… If a confrontation happens and you're present, _perhaps_ I'll let ya fight alongside me." _Only if Shikamaru's there so you can help me distract him for Shadow Possession._ She added in her head.

"Fine…" He relented.

"Welcome to Team Six I guess," Shikamaru spoke up. "Try not to be a drag and we'll be fine."

Naruto laughed. "Don't listen to him! He's not very nice when he first wakes up." The shadow manipulator looked impassive at his advice, it may have been around noon but as far as the still-groggy Nara was concerned it was too early for this trouble.

"So Team Six has six members now, sweet."

"Six?" Kin questioned, shooting a glance at Kiba.

A bark from below answered her question for him. Kin shot a smile at the dog, remembering him from their encounter in the hospital about two weeks ago. "Oh, right..."

* * *

"What's with the purple?" A feminine voice inquired, eying the addition of his outfit.

"What's with the pink?" He retorted nonchalantly.

To the Uzumaki's surprise, Sakura gave him a playful smile and punched his arm, joining him in leaning on the railing as they waited for the proctor – who they assumed was at least – dressed up in ANBU gear without the mask to give them the rundown on the third portion of the exams.

With Kakashi still in the hospital, and now Sakura too "busy" for her, Ino shot a glance at Sasuke and considered talking to him but thought better of it. Instead she turned her head to look the other way, where Shikamaru and Kiba were chatting and then noticed an extra person walked into the arena with them.

"Hey," She greeted, approaching the group. "Who's this?" She asked curiously.

"Her name's Kin, she's on one of the teams that graduated a couple years before us. Kin, this is my troublesome friend, Ino."

"Nice to meet you," The older kunoichi cut in.

Kiba coughed. "Uh by friend… he means girlfriend."

Dagger glares slashed into Kiba's face courtesy of the 'couple' he accused them of being. Kin laughed awkwardly as she felt the tension rise and laughed harder when Ino proceeded to smash Kiba's face in. "Ow damn it! Quit hanging out with Sakura!" Akamaru let out a low growl.

"Quit making bad jokes if you don't want to get smacked!"

Shikamaru chuckled as he slid his arms into a comfortable cross. "You know… he and Naruto make jokes like that every day when you aren't even around. So I think you might actually owe him quite a few of those punches."

Kiba glared at his teammate as if he'd been betrayed by the very person he'd been annoying. "Oh reaallly?" The blonde responded, cracking her knuckles in Sakura-like fashion.

"Wait!" Kiba insisted. "If you attack me now you'll get disqualified and miss out on Chunin!"

Ino shrugged. "I can wait until the next time around, I'm probably not strong enough to make Chunin anyway if we're going to be honest."

"Okay yeah but I can't fight back or I'll get disqualified."

"For defending yourself?"

"You never know."

Ino pretending like she was thinking very hard before relaxing her fists and going back to trying to meet Kin. Kiba sighed in relief, not wanting to get disqualified just because he enjoyed making fun of Shika and his girlfr- er… friend. He was going to have to refrain from making those jokes at least until the preliminaries were over.

Itachi briefly glanced at his partner and Anko, who were whispering about something and he suspected it was important due to some of the irregularities he'd noted. As usual, the Hokage was in attendance for this event. What was not usual, was that Danzo Shimura sat next to him, with two ANBU behind him. Another ANBU was standing beside the Hokage and he recognized the distinct, long purple hair that lead him to believe it was Yugao Uzuki. There was a third chair, to the Hokage's right so the Uchiha could infer there would be another guest of importance.

Also, he noticed that Tokuro Hyuga entered with only two of his Genin and a dark scowl on his face. His third Genin arrived along with Anko's team just before noon, which was when they were required to be here by. He was aware of Orochimaru and Anko's past with the Hyuga and the potential threat he was to their discovery… and this didn't look good.

"So that's why her name sounded familiar to me at the dinner…" The rogue Akatsuki commented absently. "Of course, now that I've seen her I recognized her immediately. Let us hope this does not produce a confrontation of some kind."

She nodded in agreement. "Did you notice who's here?"

"Hn? So you know who Danzo is now? I suppose that could not be helped…" He trailed off.

"What? You purposely kept his name from me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I refrained from mentioning it for all these years because I thought it would be dangerous for you to know, given your involvement with me against the Foundation," He whispered back. "If you genuinely did not know his identity, which can be proved by a Yamanaka… You were not as likely to be killed in cold blood _for the good of the village,"_ He explained, with sarcastic emphasis at the end.

"Oh… I guess we can't put that passed him."

"Put nothing past that man… He is an incarnation of evil, Anko. If the Akatsuki had presented him with a plan to gather the tailed beasts together and destroy all of the other Hidden villages to create a Leaf Empire… He would've done it without hesitation."

"Then he's completely insane!" Anko said in a slightly more audible voice that drew the eyes of Shikamaru and Naruto.

Orochimaru waited a moment to respond, not wanting anyone else to try and focus their attention on their conversation. When the two Genin decided to return to their own conversations he continued. "Sarutobi-sensei insisted on sparing him the night we rescued Kinnoe," He informed her. "Since that night… He's only gotten worse, and this time I intend to kill him," He clarified with a dark tone.

Itachi couldn't help but shoot occasional glances at his younger brother, but he also noted he was not the only one who kept looking at other people without them knowing. The shy Hyuga girl was unknowingly receiving death glares from her cousin, and the Jonin Hyuga was glaring at Anko. Or was he? Orochimaru was right next her as 'Baki'… Did he _know?_ Silently, the Uchiha drew shuriken and intended to keep them in hand for awhile.

"Father…" Hinata muttered, slightly shocked by the Hyuga's clan head arriving and taking the seat to the right of the Hokage and… that other old guy.

Genma put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to startle slightly. "Don't let it intimidate you Hinata…" He advised through the senbon in his mouth. "You've come far; now don't let his presence get into your head."

"Right! I'll do my best, sensei. I promise," She assured with a stronger resolve, drawing a smile from her sensei as well as Choji whereas Shino nodded at her.

 _This girl just needs encouragement more than the others. Someday… she's going to be a splendid shinobi; the day she has full confidence in herself and her abilities is the day people like her father will be forced to acknowledge her skill._ He bit his senbon harder. _Hiashi is too hard on his daughters, and while it seems that Hanabi can handle it, Hinata's personality is not suited to his way of instructing. Hopefully he'll be impressed by what he see's today._

"What a shame, am I right _Lady_ Hinata?" A bitter voice asked as her cousin approached.

"N-N-Neji," She stuttered.

He snorted in return. "Still stutter like a buffoon I see."

"Hey, what's your problem!" Choji stepped in front of her, protectively.

"I do not have a problem," The young Hyuga retorted stoically. "She does however."

"What are you talking about?" The Akimichi demanded, not appreciating that what he assumed was some kind of relative of Hinata's was obviously choosing to harass her.

"Lady Hinata you see, is a _failure_." Even Genma and Shino's eyes widened at his open rudeness, and due to their momentary shock Neji was allowed to go on.

"And she knows it. She knows she will lose soon enough, how badly will be determined by who her opponent is. That is her destiny," His eyes narrowed. "And now she's _scared_ because she doesn't want her father to watch it happen.

"Enough!" Genma intervened, suddenly appearing behind Neji.

"You intend to inflict harm on me, Jonin-sensei?" He asked in a tone of warning. "I doubt such conduct will be tolerated… Not by Lord Hiashi, the Hokage, the proctor, or any of the Leaf Jonin-senseis that are present."

"Well I won't tolerate _you_ ," Genma shot back with a threatening tone. "Now get away from my team… Or I will forcefully _remove_ you on their behalf and face whatever political garbage Hiashi throws my way."

"Pl-Please don't hurt him, sensei," Hinata begged.

"As you wish," Neji relented, and walked back to his own team without even sparing Genma a glance.

"What was that jerk's problem?" Choji demanded.

"It would seem they have a family feud of some sort," Shino provided.

"C-Clan politics gg-greatly upset my cousin…"

"But what does that have to do with you!? You're clan heir but still too young to actually hold power right?" Her rotund teammate questioned.

"Please… Just d-don't blame him. It's complicated."

Genma sighed. _I can already tell if she faces him she'll lose. She cares for him, though after that encounter I can't help but wonder why the fuck she should. His gaze held fire, and she melted away like ice. I just hope she won't underperform just because of the things he said along with the presence of Hiashi._

"All right, listen up!" The proctor shouted at the eight assembled Genin squads, extinguishing a cigarette as he did so. Once he was satisfied he had everyone's undivided attention he began.

"My name is Asuma Sarutobi, and I am the proctor for your preliminaries. This is rather straightforward, you will compete in a tournament to showcase your skills. The winners will move on to another tournament that takes place in a month's time at an arena on the edge of the village in front of a live crowd that will include not only Lord Hokage, but Lord Kazekage as well," He ran through, shooting a brief glance at Kankuro and Temari.

"Traditionally, these are one on one matches. However, the man who originally was supposed to be in my place as your proctor wished to conduct tag team fights, as to include an element of teamwork. I will abide by his rules and setups, as I did not know I would be the proctor until a couple days ago."

 _Tag team? So I have to worry about two opponents instead of one then… What a drag_.

"Hiruzen, you must put an end to these Chunin exams now before they can start!" Danzo insisted forcefully.

Both the Hokage and Hiashi frowned in return. "You waited until the last second to suggest this, Danzo? Request denied."

" _Hiruzen_ , you know WHY I came here, and I have already seen enough to believe in Tokuro's theory."

"Tokuro?" Hiashi queried. In truth, he was fully aware of everything that was going on, Asuma and the Hokage brought him completely up to date on Orochimaru, but they both figured it was best the Danzo was unaware of that so he intended to use his presence to make Danzo hesitate.

"H-He provided me with some intel on a classified matter. Which is why Hiruzen needs to cease these exams immediately!"

The Hokage glared at him. "You can't possibly know for sure just by watching him talk."

"Ever since Anko arrived, that is the only person he's talked to! It is definitely _him!_ "

"Maybe the Sand Jonin fancies Anko…" The Hokage stubbornly suggested. "You don't know." Inwardly the Hokage was laughing at that idea but didn't let it show.

Danzo gritted his teeth. "I don't give a damn about your politics Hiruzen! You must stop this, for the good of the-"

"That is quite enough Danzo. Your request has already been denied," He reiterated coldly.

"If there is anything I can do to insure the safety of these exams, just let me know Lord Hokage," Hiashi "offered."

"Thank you Hiashi, but I think everything shall be fine. Just enjoy watching your daughter and nephew compete," he smiled. That was the façade purpose they devised to explain Hiashi's interest in attending the exams.

"I do hope she's improved…" He commented.

"Before we can begin the matches, all of you will need to partner up with someone. It does not matter who… they can be from your squad, or a completely different village," Asuma continued.

"When the teams are known, we will insert them into a randomizer and you will compete. The last two standing from your two versus two's advance… So even if your teammate is defeated, you can advance without beating both of your opponents. I will allow you all five minutes to pair up."

"Unexpected…" Orochimaru rasped.

 _So this is what Raido meant when he was telling me how he was shaking the Chunin exams up…_ Genma thought to himself.

"So, which one of you is my partner?" The purple jacket touting blonde asked, turning around and resting his hands behind his head.

Kiba hesitated; he wasn't sure which one of his teammates he should align with. Shikamaru was a genius for sure, but he knew better than almost anyone that Naruto was a formidable person to team up with as well. The Uzumaki had _massive_ chakra reserves, unmatched determination and he was a great complement to Kiba's own skills, not to mention the shadow clones.

Shikamaru scratched his chin thoughtfully, he hated to do this but he was left no choice. He couldn't pick both of them so he had to pick one, and thankfully a strategy occurred to him that made his choice unoffensive. "Sorry Naruto, but I think Kiba and I have to team up."

"What!?"

"I hate to sound elitist, but I think it's a wise move to stick together because the two of us have clan jutsus to fall back on. If there are three of us, there's a chance the third person who is teamed with someone else fights before the two of us who are united, which means the opponents of the two of us will have already seen the snake jutsus."

Naruto sweatdropped. "Uh what?"

"I… Think he's saying that if you and your partner fight before them, the snake jutsus will have been watched by their own opponent but they have clan jutsu to go to if that poses a problem," Kin supplied.

"Oh, well he could've just said that! So I guess that means I'll have to partner with-"

"I'll be your partner Naruto!" Sakura interrupted, suddenly reappearing right next to him, shoulder to shoulder.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. _Naruto always liked Sakura… But since when did she care?_

Kiba stared agape as well. _What the hell?_

Anko watched on at this scene with amusement. _Now I can tease TWO of my Genin about girls. It's a glorious day!_

The Nara then noticed that Ino wasn't even a _little bit_ surprised, nor was she angry that Sakura left her hanging in favor of a boy. Kin however…

"Did he just completely forget I'm on your guys' team?" She grumbled.

Kiba shrugged. "Don't pay it any mind, Naruto would team up with Sakura before the _Hokage_ if he were offered." Anko openly laughed at that.

"Shut up Kiba!" And for the second time that afternoon, a kunoichi from team seven smacked the Inuzuka in the face.

"God damn it!" He complained, clasping the jaw Sakura blasted.

"You deserved it," Ino stated cheerfully.

Now Shikamaru was truly intrigued, Sakura punched Kiba for making fun of Naruto's crush on her, not the other way around. _Troublesome. I wonder when this started?_

"I didn't even do anything!" Kiba groaned. "Tell me what I said isn't true!?"

" _Ino_ ," A cold voice commanded.

She and those around her turned to glare at the source of it. "Sasuke?"

He gestured for her to follow him, which was his way of asking her to be his partner, or more like _tell_ her to but Ino just laughed hysterically. The Uchiha fumed as his face turned red, his own teammate was actually laughing at his request to be partners in PUBLIC. "Very well," He spat. "You may have it your way and be eliminated; you aren't worthy of Chunin status anyways."

She ceased her laughing to glare at her former crush, who was now staring at Sakura. "However," he said, still addressing Ino. "I give you props for at least not being stupid enough to ask Naruto to be your partner," He smirked and turned around to leave them.

"Who was that jerk?" Kin asked, crossing her arms.

"Nobody important!" Sakura hissed.

"Kin, we're partners," Ino told her matter-of-factly. "I have to make up for Naruto's lack of manners! Besides… It gives me an excuse to not work with Sasuke!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry Kin…"

Then a piece of information seemed to hit the Yamanaka in the face. "Wait, why are you on their team now?"

Kin shot a questioning glance to Anko, who looked to Shikamaru who realized why they weren't answering her question. The Nara sighed. "Ino… Sakura… You two think you can keep a secret?" He included Sakura because he figured even if he trusted Ino to keep quiet; he didn't trust her to with the pinkette.

Meanwhile..

"NO! I've vowed to defeat you! And I intend to do so in these exams, Neji my rival."

Neji scoffed. "As I've said many times. You are better than I expected you to become, but you are _fated_ to always be less than me. You'll never defeat me, Lee. Ever. Your attempts to defy your birth written destiny are futile at best."

Tenten sighed. Despite arguments such as this, the two of them were very capable of getting along and working together. The problem was ninety percent of them getting along was during missions.

Gai blocked the arguing out and let his thoughts take over. _Neji, someday you will realize what you believe in is wrong. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished by hard work on my own or Lee's scale! It's most unyouthful that you still have yet to understand this after being assigned to me for over a year._

 _"_ If you insist on losing to me in the exams we do it my way!" The Hyuga told him.

"What? What do you mean, Neji?"

"You and I will not face each other now… we will advance together and battle in the finals. I will annihilate you once more, in front of an entire crowd of people, even after you're allotted an entire month longer of your _youthful_ training," He offered sarcastically, the look in his eyes made it clear, this was the way Neji wanted to do it.

"But why does it matter when? You never show interest in fighting me."

Neji's eyes shut momentarily. "I'm not interested," He clarified. "But you won't give up, so I've decided to let you get even better before embarrassing you in front of thousands of people. Perhaps then, you will understand the concept of fate."

"Woah woah aren't you getting ahead of yourselves!" Tenten scolded. "You have to actually win against whatever match you're given, idiots!"

Neji's eyes reopened. "That is not concerning. My opponents will lose, it has already been decided."

Tenten sweatdropped at his logic. _I swear! He just randomly decides the outcome of things in the midst of his confidence and arrogance. Fate and destiny my ass! You're fortunetelling to yourself!"_

"I think you should accept Neji's offer, Lee," Gai Maito finally spoke.

Lee raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise. "Gai-sensei?"

"The offer is well in your favor; there's no telling where either of you will be at in a months time!"

* * *

"If you are knocked out or surrender you are defeated and I will intervene if your opponent proceeds to attack you anyway. You already know what you have to do… First match, Temari and Kankuro Sabaku of the Sand versus Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee of the Leaf. Begin!" Asuma declared, and leapt back to stay out of the way of the Chunin hopefuls.

At first, no one moved. Neji was sizing up the Sand ninja and Lee was planning to counterattack once he had an idea of their opponent's abilities. Temari being a long ranged fighter, and Kankuro a mid-ranged, naturally weren't about to sprint at their enemies.

Temari lazily leaned on her fan, smiling confidently as Kankuro brought whatever the bandaged thing on his back was out and held it out beside him, smirking.

Neji made no movement of any kind; he just stood still as the Hokage monument and remained as stoic and unblinking as ever. Lee's eyes darted between the other three Genin, expecting one of them to run out of patience.

"He said begin you fucking morons!" One of the Waterfall ninja bellowed.

"Cowardly bunch, yeah?" His teammate concurred.

"Spineless," The third muttered.

 _Those fools._ Orochimaru thought. _They don't realize these team's dilemma. Temari and Kankuro are ranged fighters that tend to make moves in reaction to their opponents'. In this case, their opponents are students of Gai Maito and they carry on his Taijutsu specialty. Of course, coming from a Hyuga that part is obvious, but the other one dresses in that same revolting spandex outfit so he must be following that path as well._ _None of them are going to charge at one another in some impudent, blind assault._

"Lee," The prodigy spoke, slipping into his clan's stance. "Judging by that fan, she is a wind style user. She could give you some trouble; so leave her to me."

Rock Lee made a noise of acknowledgement. "Very well. I shall take the other one then!"

"Ha, at least they don't got cold feet," Kankuro stated mockingly.

"You're awfully sure of yourself kid," Temari commented, smirking into the Hyuga's eyes unfazed by his emotionless gaze.

"I don't expect you to understand," Neji replied. "And you're only a year or two older than me," He corrected.

The blonde Sand shinobi raised her fan. "I'll play with you for a bit," She promised. "Wouldn't want to embarrass you too much, being an ally to my village and all. Just remember this, when you see the third moon… it's over."

At first, Neji said nothing, merely activating his Dojutsu. The female child of the Kazekage gaped at the intense veins surfacing on his face, surrounding his eyes. "This match is already over," He corrected once again.

"Temari!" 'Baki,' shouted. "Do not let him get near you!" Itachi gave his partner a brief look of contemplation before returning his attention to the match that still hadn't really began. He supposed it wouldn't hurt for Orochimaru to give his fake apprentice some advice, though he didn't expect him to help a Sand ninja fight one of the Leaf, allied or not. Or perhaps his partner simply held distaste for the Hyuga clan… Tokuro had caused him enough grief to make that a possibility.

Speaking of Tokuro, he gave Orochimaru a glare that could cut through souls as he could now faintly recognize the disguised voice since he knew who the Sannin was posing as.

Seeing his sensei's distress, one of his Genin mistook it for something else. "Calm down sensei… I know that guy's from your clan and related to you in some way but you can't fault someone for trying to help his own Genin, right?" Tokuro did not respond and the Genin decided to just shrug it off as his sensei being overly tense as usual.

"Yes sensei…" The Sand kunoichi drawled with obvious sarcasm. The irony from her perspective was unreal. The Leaf shinobi that was posing as her Jonin-sensei – who was a Sand ninja – just gave her a small piece of advice on how to deal with her battle against a Leaf Genin that he should naturally be rooting for.

Staring down Kankuro, Lee finally changed his mind. _He's content with waiting for me to make the first move; I will have to proceed with caution to learn the extent of his abilities. Then, maybe I can finish him off in one move._

Lee jarred forward with his fullest speed (with weights anyway) on without warning. Kankuro was slightly caught off guard by the display of quickness but kept his cool. Lee closed in and forced Kankuro to dodge three lightning fast strikes and drop his bandaged… thing.

Caught off balance, Kankuro failed to adjust properly to block a kick to the gut. It's not like the Kazekage's children were at all heralded in Taijutsu; after landing that singular blow, Lee was making short work of the foreigner. After delivering a punch that should bust his opponents jaw, the bowl cut Genin barely noticed the remnants of something detaching from the other Genin's face.

His first thought was that he merely saw some of the powder from his youthful opponent's makeup fall off and he continued with his attack, slipping a vicious kick through the Sand ninja's defenses yet again. This time he saw it more clearly. That wasn't powder that was…

Lee didn't have time to finish his analysis as several wooden arms besieged around the center of his body. The Taijutsu expert squirmed but found he could barely move at all! More of the stuff he'd been knocking off of the… thing, cracked and collapsed off the body, revealing it to actually be a strange weaponized puppet. _I'm stuck, what a most unyouthful trick! Now what do I do?_

Behind him, a hand struck out of the bandaged cocoon and pulled them off, revealing the actual Kankuro had been hiding inside his bundle. The makeup covered shinobi emerged from it smirking and established chakra strings with his second hand for full control of his tool.

 _Well played Kankuro._ Itachi silently commended.

 _He's no Sasori, but that was an exceptionally designed trap for a Genin._ Orochimaru praised wordlessly.

 _Lee just didn't realize what he was facing!_ Gai inwardly panicked. _Who would've expected a puppeteer to be in these exams? I wonder if any of my students even know of the puppeteer corps._

"Give up… you'll never escape Crow's clutches!" Kankuro declared.

Lee frowned as he continued to squirm. "If I was the type to give up… I wouldn't even be a shinobi!"

Not far from them, their partners' staring contest finally came to an end. "You're stubborn as hell, you know that?" Temari complained, raising her weapon. "I tried to be nice and give you a chance to show your skills… Too late now. Wind scythe jutsu!" She proclaimed and launched a formidable gust of wind at the Hyuga prodigy.

Neji braced himself and performed a spinning motion, having anticipated her jutsu would be something like this after examining the fan.

Hiashi's eyes widened. _No way. He couldn't have learned that on his own!_

"ROTATION!" Neji manifested, emitting chakra from points all along his body to guard himself from the wind jutsu.

Both jutsus subsided and Temari gawked at him wondering what the hell he just did. Her opponent didn't have a scratch on him… not one damn incision in his attire and she couldn't come up with the slightest idea of what that blue globe of chakra that had encased him was.

Much of the audience was confused and gaping in bewilderment, but four in particular weren't in any way muddled by the move, just immensely impressed that a thirteen year old without instruction was able to teach it to himself. Those four of course were the Hokage, Hinata, Tokuro and Hiashi.

"Interesting… I had no idea you'd taught young Neji something so advanced already, Hiashi."

"I didn't Lord Hokage," The Hyuga clan head admitted.

"Oh?" He questioned.

"He somehow discovered how to do it… all on his own."

 _As callow as he is, he's already learning how to perform jutsu I never unraveled._ Tokuro watched on with mild admiration.

 _Her thoughts have distracted her._ Neji concluded from the look on her face. Deciding this was as good of an opportunity as any he sprinted at her, wanting to eliminate the distance between them.

 _That was only the first moon… Time to turn it up a notch._ The shock on her face dispersed, and was replaced by another smirk as she performed the second level of that jutsu. "Let's see if you can stop it this time veinboy!" She challenged. "Wind scythe jutsu!"

"ROTATION!" The wind jutsu clashed with the chakra dome once more and as the two jutsu subsided Neji was revealed unscathed again, slightly unnerving Temari.

 _Whatever that is withstood the second moon that easily?_ She slightly panicked, and took a deep breath. She was smart and she knew she had to keep her cool in order to handle this guy. He was extraordinary, and she underestimated him if he could stop two wind scythe jutsus without even a remote sign of fatigue.

"I knew I recognized that jutsu…" Naruto commented from the upper levels. "It's the same thing Inoanji Yamanaka was performing cause of that curse mark of his, remember?"

"Yeah," Kiba nodded. "That jutsu's a real pain in the ass; I feel sorry for the Sand chick."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kin asked, feeling lost.

"Just this really dangerous rogue ninja we faced in our first C-rank months ago," Naruto supplied.

Ino's expression had hardened at the mention of _that_ name and Shikamaru seemed to take notice immediately. He leaned closer to her ear to whisper. "I thought we'd been over this…"

"I know!" She whispered back. "But I hate being reminded of him and what he did to you."

"I'm fine Ino…" He reminded. _Women… Always worrying…_

"All right _eyebrows_ that's enough. It's just like I said, you can't escape Crow! Now surrender…" He ordered the Leaf Genin, twitching his ring finger up and Crow's mouth opened to reveal a blade that was pointed not far from Lee's forehead. The puppet master smirked with satisfaction, knowing his opponent would be forced to cave and quit once he got over his pride. Self preservation always had a way of driving people's actions, it was only natural.

Due to the Byakugan being active, Neji was well aware of what was going on concerning his teammate. But now, it was becoming apparent that despite all of Lee's strength he could not bust himself free, so the prodigal member of Team Nine drew kunai.

Temari smirked arrogantly at the sight of his weapons. _Maybe he doesn't have the chakra capacity to utilize that spinning jutsu of his and doesn't think he can reach me. That jutsu must be so taxing he assumes he'll run out of chakra before I do if he continues trying to inch his way over and rely on that to protect him from my attacks._ Her eyes twinkled with delight that he was going to waste his time throwing those puny projectiles. _This is going to be too easy._

Temari's mood and thoughts shifted off completely when the Leaf ninja hurled the trio of kunai in a totally different direction. Her eyes tracked them as they sailed through the air and seemed as if they were going to hit their mark before bouncing off the blue chakra strings worthlessly. The smile faintly returned to her lips. _Didn't expect him to take his focus off of me like that, but it's no use. He'll never be able to free his teammate that way._

Observing through the Byakugan he was able to analyze the kunais' effect (or lack thereof in this case) without taking tabs off of the kunoichi at the same time. He'd never attempted to cut actual, physical chakra before, so he wasn't necessarily sure of what to expect but he was not surprised by the result either.

"Hahaha…" Kankuro cackled to himself. "Good luck with that! These strings are made of _chakra,_ you idiot. And you thought a knife would be strong enough to do something to them? You're not nearly as smart as you make yourself out to be!"

 _Every jutsu has a weakness boy…_ Itachi thought to himself, eying Neji. _Let's see if you're capable enough of a Genin to figure out what this one's is._

Neji smirked. "You're about to wish they weren't made out of chakra."

 _Well,_ Itachi continued to himself. _That didn't take long, though it isn't surprising with his eyes._

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Temari why don't ya start pulling you weight already! He's your guy to deal with not mine!"

His sister scoffed at him ordering her around, she always hated it when her brothers attempted to do so when she was the oldest damn it! "Right," She conceded anyway going for the third moon. "One more time then…"

"I'm getting impatient, eyebrows," Kankuro addressed as he turned his body to face the spandex clad Genin, leaving the Hyuga to his sibling. "Do I really have to stab you with one of these poisoned blades now? It's a rather forgettable way to die," He commented dryly.

"It's not in my nature to give up!"

"That's greaaat and all, but seriously, you're gonna die," Kankuro tried to explain.

Not unlike the first two moons, the third… as powerful and flashy as it was… had zero effect on Neji's clan jutsu which once again cancelled her move out completely. _God damn it! What can I do about this guy other than hope his jutsu is more exhausting than my own…_

This time as the blue glow of the Hyuga's Heavenly Spin Rotation jutsu dissipated, and the spectator's could begin to make out Neji's form, a barrage of kunai were flung in Kankuro's direction with accuracy that made Tenten proud. The Sand shinobi trusted his gut enough to look in time to dodge the projectiles as Neji advanced.

"Oh no you don't!" Temari barked, pulling the fan back yet again, seriously it was getting old.

This time Neji ignored the powerful gust of wind and winced as it split into his outfit and certain exposed areas of skin into deep and fairly painful cuts but the Hyuga forced himself to brush it off for the moment, and only slightly slowed his pace from the impact of her jutsu and got where he wanted to be, in the center of Kankuro Lee.

"Don't even think about it, I _will_ stab your teammate with this poison."

"I'm sure you would," Neji agreed.

"Neji, what are you doing!?" Tenten shouted from the stands, not liking this one bit. If he pressured the Sand ninja… What if that forced him to go through with it!?

"But there's one slight problem," He insisted with an amused tone, and chopped his hand through the chakra strings that were controlled by his right hand. He chose to cut those ones first because he noted that it was that hand that controlled the weapon he'd already been prepared to use on Lee.

"Your strings are made of chakra," Neji finished, reiterating what Kankuro had already said when he was taunted earlier.

Temari gasped in shock. _What the hell just happened?_ Stunned himself, it had taken Kankuro a moment to begin making a move with his left hand instead; he had to get eyebrows before he could escape! But before his weapons could advance enough, Neji slashed through those strings as well. "What the fuck!"

"It would seem you don't reside in fate's good favor… I am the worst possible opponent for someone like you," Neji sneered.

The sound of wood being torn apart and pieces of Kankuro's puppet being scattered across the arena were audible as Lee happily wrecked his foe's only apparent weapon. "Thank you my rival! I owe you a commemorative spar!"

"Oh spare me," Neji snorted. "It's not like there would be any point in me giving you yet another lesson that you will never defeat me." Lee's bushy eyebrows narrowed but he let it slide since Neji had just got him out of such a jam.

Pointing his index out at the Sand Genin he shouted. "It is now my time to advise you give up! Your weapon has been dismantled and my teammate and I are burning with the flames of youth!"

Kankuro just stared at him deadpanned, wondering what the fuck that was supposed to mean.

Neji sighed. "Lee, trade me opponents… I'll have this over in one move."

"Yosh! I will get to battle another opponent!"

 _How can someone so strong conduct himself as such an idiot?_ Neji thought as he shook his head and refocused his attention on the face painted Genin and absentmindedly rubbed some blood off the back of his neck from Temari's attack a moment prior.

Lee made a signal to their sensei to make a request of sorts and Gai scratched his chin thoughtfully before giving him the thumbs up and a creepy smile. _It might be slight overkill, but against her wind jutsu it won't hurt to allow him the extra speed._ And so Lee detached his weights… "SHOW THEM THE POWER OF YOUTH!" He unnecessarily shouted.

"There are two aspects of a puppet user's skill that define them. Do you know what either of these aspects are?" The Sand ninja asked, playing it cool knowing he had another trick up his sleeve.

The blunt response was rather clear. "No, and I don't care to."

Ignoring the Leaf shinobi's response Kankuro went on. "The first is the quantity of puppets he or she can use at once. And the second, is…" He trailed off bringing his hands up suddenly. "How fast that person can re-establish connection to their puppet!"

Due to his Byakugan, it wasn't like Neji actually needed to hear anything he was saying to understand what was happening. New chakra strings formed and linked up with several of the dismantled weapons laying around from Lee's handiwork. With a few twitches of Kankuro's fingers, the deadly blades and poisons went from dormant on the ground to being hurled at the Hyuga with admirable velocity albeit subtle.

Kankuro grinded his teeth as he watched that elusive _bastard_ avoid things he couldn't possibly see or have any hint where they were coming from.

For Neji, this was child's play, a mere practice exercise for his Dojutsu…

Quickly growing weary of watching the other ninja swerve, side step and duck away from every damn thing he sent at him he smirked and brought all the weapons up before attempting to turn the annoying fucker into a porcupine.

Neji welcomed Kankuro's trump card with an uncaring expression as the weapons he'd been surrounded by attempted to parry themselves into him and he performed the same jutsu one last time. "ROTATION!"

The puppet user winced as many of his weapons were not only discarded by it but destroyed or otherwise ruined. Before he could register another thought (never mind plan) his long haired foe was upon him striking out with two fingers.

"Two palms!" He shouted as his fingers made impact with his tenketsu with lightning speed.

"Four palms… Eight palms…" He continued.

Kankuro coughed hoarsely in the midst of his annihilation… He wasn't sure what was happening to him, but he had a feeling he was done for.

"Sixteen palms… THRITY-TWO PALMS!" Neji's voice rose as he delivered the final hit which sent the older Genin into the wall.

In the upper level the other Genin had to admit they were impressed. "That guy didn't have trouble with anything thrown at him by either of their opponents…" An intimidated Snow ninja commented, getting no response from his awestruck teammates.

One of Tokuro's Genin gulped. "No offense sensei… but that guy seems like a scarier opponent than _you_."

The other scoffed at him. "Don't exaggerate… He's still a Genin just like us! This just means the Sand team isn't that good."

To say that Itachi wasn't inclined to agree with them was an understatement. He was fully aware of how good Kankuro and Temari were… This Neji Hyuga was not to be underestimated if any of the other Genin present wished to have a chance in defeating him.

 _Interesting._ Orochimaru thought. _Hiashi and Tokuro were both taken by surprise at his display of skill which must mean he's not reaching this level through their clan's traditional forms of clan politics and favoritism._

The match was quickly declared over as Neji's attack rendered Kankuro unconscious, and with Lee's enhanced speed… it was easy to avoid taking any damage from Temari who simply wasted chakra. Not wanting to strike her down needlessly, he'd managed to with within close proximity to her and snatch the fan away.

Without her main weapon, against two _unbelievable_ Taijutsu users, she begrudgingly surrendered.

"Man… I don't know what we're going to do if we ever have to go up against that guy," Naruto spoke up.

"Neji? Why..? It's not like you've never faced the Byakugan before or even that Rotation thing of his…" Kiba argued.

The Uzumaki shook his head. "No I mean Rock Lee…" The bowl haired Genin was currently reattaching his ridiculous weights in a brief intermission before the second match.

"Fighting against someone with that much speed…" Shikamaru mused, rubbing the back of his neck. "Too much trouble."

"Oh shut it Shika," Anko muttered. "You're not going to start complaining about fights you don't even have to do now."

Sakura pinched Naruto's arm to get his attention as she couldn't seem to find words in that moment. "Huh? What's wrong Sakura?"

The rattled kunoichi didn't say anything, she just pointed at the screen.

 _Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno v.s Shino Aburame and Sasuke Uchiha_

 _OH YEAH! I JUST HIT THE LOTTERY!_ Naruto cheered inside.

Because Choji and Hinata decided to pair up, Shino was the member from Team One that required a partner, which was a void Sasuke was fine with filling after Ino's blatant brush off. Now the Uchiha was smirking deviously… He would get to fight the dead last and one of his annoying teammates.

 ** _A/N:_** **Whew had a little trouble getting through that to be honest. Why? Well originally I was going to have Kankuro and Temari win… But that didn't make sense after Neji freed Lee. I realized that at that point there was no way Neji wouldn't trade off opponents with him… Like I made Neji say basically "I'm the worst possible opponent for someone like you"**

 **It really seems that way on paper… if he wanted he could've grabbed one of the chakra strings and hurt him that way too (like what canon Neji did to Kidomaru)**

 **Naruto/Sakura V Sasuke/Shino next time!**

 **I'd like to address the Sakura thing actually, I know I haven't spent a ton of time on that… no worries they aren't going to randomly be in love or anything hell they might never get together… I have no clue on that at this time. Sakura's merely playing around with options now that she and Ino are moving on from Sasuke.**

 **Speaking of Sasuke… She has to fight him! I'm cruel**

 **Anyhow til next time**


	23. Acknowledge Me

**Chapter 23: Acknowledge Me**

 ** _A/N:_** **I forgot to mention something in the A/N last update! Re-Alignment has officially crossed 110 favorites! :D Closing in on 200 followers… THANK YOU ALL!**

 **A comment was made on Naruto's outfit… the purple trench jacket, yeah I mostly did that for amusement and because it seemed like Anko (Who loves purple) would try to do that. Personally, I can't picture Naruto keeping that permanently XD So no worries I'll revamp his 'look' again later. Actually I might revamp the whole team's clothing later, but for this immediate time period it's what it is :)**

 _guest_ _chapter 22 ._ _Nov 10_

 _Why would Sakura move on from Sasuke, self-inserting fucktard. Kill yourself._

 **^Rudest review ever. Normally I'd feel inclined to ignore you but I can't resist in this case. Do you even know what a self insert is? Cause that makes no sense at all, and even if it did… I am a guy so why in the fuck would I self-insert myself into Sakura's character? Lol… Go find another story to take 22 chapters before realizing you hate it, lmao**

 **Anyways… This fight was a blast for me! I enjoyed writing the badass Neji content last chapter (He's one of my favorite characters) but this one blows it away. So without further ado let's get this story underway**

 **Enjoy!**

Neji finished making his way back up the stairs to the upper level with a smirk and Lee in his tow. "See, what did I tell you Tenten? The match was decided before we were even down there." Tenten huffed in annoyance but she knew it was futile to argue with him after that fight… How could she convince him he was wrong about anything if the stubborn bastard kept winning and proving himself correct?

"Okay Neji…" She drawled. "Since you think you're so in touch with fate to know the outcomes of the fights, which two of them will advance?" She asked, pointing at the screen.

Her teammates looked at the screen themselves to read: _Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno v.s Shino Aburame and Sasuke Uchiha._

Neji frowned. "Why ask something that is so obvious?" He queried. "Two clan heirs against two nobodies… Shadow Clone jutsu aside, this is not much of a match."

"What!? Last stage you were making a big deal of how good Team Six was!" Tenten snapped. "Make up your mind would ya!?" She deadpanned.

"That was _last_ stage. In the forest where it was a predetermined three versus three that involved finding your opponent and their flag. His jutsu was highly advantageous," He explained. "And with his team backing him up… He was a formidable opponent to deal with," He conceded.

"However," Neji went on. "In the preliminaries, it's nothing more than a two on two battle, no other objectives or requirements. He and that girl are no match for the rookie of the year and Aburame clan heir," He explained. "This match is over; Naruto and Sakura will be swept just as the Sand ninja were, though I wouldn't expect this fight to last as long."

"N-Neji?" A quiet, timid voice addressed him. "I… b-brought you some healing ointment. I-I thought it would be… nice to assist you from those cuts you suffered."

"Hmpt… how _gracious_ of you. I'm fine _Lady_ Hinata, thank you for your concern," He brushed his cousin off.

Itachi turned to face his 'siblings' and looked them both in the eyes momentarily. "He's a prominent shinobi… although way too arrogant. And Rock Lee was in a whole different world of speed… So don't let your loss get you down." He managed a very faint smile, catching the two Sand Genin by surprise and he turned back to face the arena and buried his emotions up.

Orochimaru frowned for a moment. With Temari and Kankuro eliminated, Itachi had to advance. It was obvious that he would, that's not something he had to worry about. What annoyed him was they no longer had a choice, he _had_ win. They couldn't afford to intentionally lose or give up… Even if he faced Anko's Genin. The Sannin would've preferred not to rip off his ex pupil's apprentices of their chances by putting them up against _the_ Itachi Uchiha but if it came to it, then so be it. The village and their mission held precedence over some silly promotion after all.

On the bright side, Naruto was about to fight and Itachi's er- Gaara's name did not appear so at least that diminished the chance of it happening. He shot a glance at Shikamaru and Kiba who were wishing their teammate good luck as he and Sakura were about to walk down the stairs.

 _I suppose Gaara's promotion was an added reward in the deal we presented them with anyway._ He reminded himself.

Where Sakura had momentarily paled at the idea of fighting Sasuke and Shino… Sasuke because as much as she'd begun to dislike her teammate and former crush she couldn't deny his superior skill over her and Shino because he was an Aburame… and those bugs are… gross.

Ino on the other hand was pumped up. "You two are going to kick his ass!"

So was Naruto. "You don't have to tell me, Ino! I've been waiting to do that for months!"

"Sakura I don't like that look in your eye one bit…" The Yamanaka berated. "Snap out of it! You want to clean Sasuke's clock well now's your chance Forehead girl!"

The pinkette's eyes narrowed on her friend and a vein stuck out on the forehead in question. "There," Ino smirked. "That's the look you need to have right now…"

Shino gave the Uchiha a curt nod and two of them brushed past their opponents and began down the stairway, Sasuke actually chuckling. "I'm sure Kakashi would be proud of your impartial attitude Ino."

"If Kakashi-sensei were here… He'd be the _only_ one rooting for you! You ass," The blonde huffed but was ignored.

Kin looked like she wanted to ask something about the animosity between Sasuke but Shikamaru met her eyes and shook his head as if to say: _'It's too much trouble'_

"Go get em' Naruto!" Kiba supported.

"You bet," He promised and made his first step down the stairs but Anko grabbed his shoulder so he waited and looked to face his purple haired sensei.

"Do you remember what the Aburame clan is known for?"

"Yeah, bugs I didn't forget…"

"Good," She smirked. "Then there's no excuse for you to not be one of the last two standing here… We believe in you ya damned brat now go show me why." The Genin grinned in response; it felt great to have so many people actually rooting for him… especially against Sasuke. She released her grip and he rushed to catch up to Sakura.

Orochimaru felt a twinge of pride after watching all of those interactions and licked his lips. _You've done well Anko; your team cares about each other more than mine ever did._

Genma wasn't too happy at the moment. For one, Shino teamed up with the Uchiha kid that somehow managed to get his two teammates that had undying love for him to hate him. Hell, one of his teammates laughed when he tried to suggest they partner up. Now that was sad.

Secondly, he'd spent a good amount of time with Naruto since he taught him a number of things about senbon and even a couple jutsu he can perform with them. He'd like to root for the kid, but not against his own Genin. Of course, if Naruto and Sasuke clashed in a one on one situation during this battle, he'd toss that thought aside for a few minutes.

Though Ino had managed to stir some anger within her to drag her out of the initial panic… Sakura couldn't help but be rather intimidated here. It didn't matter which of one of them she wound up engaging, Sasuke or Shino… it was like David versus Goliath. She glanced at Naruto, and as usual confidence seemed to just radiate off of him.

He locked eyes with her when he realized she was staring at him and didn't look ready to go just yet. "Have some faith Sakura," He smiled. "I have a plan…"

Naruto makes plans?

"What? Being around Shikamaru all the time has to rub off a little bit…" The Uzumaki explained, seeing her bewildered expression. _I guess I still have a reputation of just charging right at my opponent and trying to plunge them head on because of our academy days. I sure hope that helps me catch one of these two off guard._

She laughed softly but didn't appear reassured in the slightest. "Just trust me…" He told her.

The ANBU backed away from them. "Are both sides ready to begin?"

Sasuke and Shino gave mere nods and Sakura hesitated. "Wait-Wait! Actually…" Naruto outburst rather sheepishly. "Is it okay for me to take a quick bathroom break…?"

Asuma stared back at him, deadpanned. "What?" Naruto snapped at the look. "It's distracting."

 _This is his plan!? Stalling?_ Sakura thought to herself. _JUST when you think he might not be so bad… He does something pointless and stupid!_ Inner-Sakura screamed.

Seeing that the proctor was hesitant to give into his request Naruto decided to make a bigger scene out of it and pointed up at the upper levels where Anko was. "It's her fault! She didn't get us up until half an hour before this all started!" He ranted accusingly and Anko's eye twitched with annoyance.

 _That idiot, antagonizing Anko-sensei of all the things… What the hell is he trying to do? Get himself killed?_ Kiba thought.

Shikamaru watched the exchange with mild interest; his teammate was making a tactical move. _Naruto could've gone while the first match was going on. So either he has a serious bladder problem that started today, or he's looking for an excuse to buy himself a few minutes of time. But for what? Stalling the match won't do him much good. Maybe he's just trying to look stupid and get them to underestimate him._

Sasuke let out an amused huff. "Proctor," he stated, getting Asuma's attention. "Allow it; if you don't, he'll be embarrassed when he releases it all over himself by the end of our match."

Naruto scowled at the remark. "Shut up you bastard! I would not."

Asuma sighed again and looked up at his father who was smirking with apparent amusement and nodded at him. "Fine," He permitted. "Just don't take all day…"

After the purple trench jacket clad ninja hurried out of the arena, Sasuke chose to turn his intimidating glare on Sakura. She returned it without a second thought. "Sakura."

"What?"

"I have no issue with beating the shit out of you, and I might enjoy it a little," He declared and momentarily shut his eyes, as if it was difficult for him to say whatever he was going to say. "But you know… I don't hate you or anything." His hatred was reserved for one person only.

One person that he had no clue was present in that very room.

He reopened his eyes to take in his pink haired teammate's reaction. Her facial expression could be best described as a mixture of confusion induced shock and suspicious. "Since that mission… The two of you have stopped trying to get in my pants," He noted. "Had the two of you not been treating me with constant disrespect, I would actually say neither of you are that annoying anymore."

Her eyebrows furrowed, did he really just complain that she and Ino have been _disrespecting him_? _He's trying to rattle me!_ Sakura pieced together. _WELL IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK! CHA!_ Inner-Sakura declared with determination.

But Sasuke wasn't finished. "Our team, present to this point of the exams or not, is a joke. None of us have to like each other," he affirmed. "But we need to at least get along, so I'll say this once and only once…"

"Forfeit after the match begins, and I won't have to hurt you or embarrass you. Consider it an olive branch," The Uchiha offered.

She just stared back at him incredulously. "Your idea of an olive branch is to ask me to give up?"

The Uchiha said nothing, just stood there awaiting her decision, though now it seemed kind of obvious she wasn't going to agree to it. This was the second attempt he'd made since entering the arena to try and repair his team relations a bit, the first had been going to Ino to partner up but even he knew he chose the wrong tone for a positive reaction. What could he say? Asking people for help was difficult for him.

 _So Sasuke… You've come to realize that you need to value your teammates?_ Itachi pondered from the upper level.

"As much as I hate to admit it… Our team's issues are holding all of us back. Didn't you see how much better Naruto's team was on that mission? I'm trying to make an effort here," Sasuke then begrudgingly added though his frown on full display implied he despised crediting the other team that way.

 _Wait,_ Sakura hesitated. _Maybe he's serious… Is he really doing this?_ Her skeptical side stabbed into it like a knife, however. Her previously softening expression quickly solidified before she spoke again. "If you really mean that Sasuke… If you really want things to change, then prove it," She challenged, her eyes driving into his like kunai.

"Prove it right now, and forfeit yourself instead of asking me to. And then I'll do the same, then we can talk with Ino and-"

" _No,"_ the stone cold response struck. "I… can't do that." He clenched his fist tightly in frustration.

Not because of her request or stubbornness, no… He was silently commending her for that actually. It was smart of her to turn around his offer in a way that favored her and tested his trustworthiness. The problem was, he couldn't pass this opportunity up. These exams… were his opportunity to test his strength against true opponents such as the two who had just advanced, Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee. On a side note, he wanted to beat the tar out of that weird guy from the Sand… Something about him put off a silent aura that told him he was stronger than average.

He knew by refusing, he was taking another step back instead of a step forward with his teammates, probably two steps back with Sakura really. He wasn't exactly sure what happened between her and Ino that turned the Yamanaka against him actually, but that was something to figure out later.

"Making an effort huh…?" Sakura repeated sarcastically. Sasuke didn't show it, but he inwardly cringed a bit. That sort of response had been the opposite of where his intentions laid.

Naruto took that heated moment to return to her side in the arena. "Sorry about that," He apologized, but the smirk on his face was unmistakable. That mischievous bastard was up to something.

"Took you long enough," Asuma grumbled. "You missed an episode of Icha Icha teenage drama."

Sakura sneered at him. "Don't you dare compare me to that series of perverted books Kakashi-sensei reads!" ANBU captain or not, she wasn't taking that from him, or anyone.

Genma chuckled from the stands but Asuma sighed and ignored her. "Is everyone ready _now_?"

"Wait, Kakashi reads perverted books?" Naruto questioned.

 _Oh for the love of… eh fuck it._ "Begin!" Asuma ordered, grown weary of waiting.

Naruto was the first to react to the sudden announcement, performing a handseal to make a few instant-Naruto's. Two shadow clones stuck with the original and three formed in behind Sakura as backup.

Shino and Sasuke held themselves back, waiting to see what Naruto was going to do. _His actions are predictable._ Shino analyzed, familiar with the sole Uzumaki's go-to jutsu from a couple occasions he'd been present while Genma was helping with the senbon training. _Though he is being strategic as well._ He judged seeing them split up between himself and his teammate.

"Last chance Sakura," Sasuke warned in a firm tone, keeping his ebony eyes on the six Naruto's.

"Sakura, the boss needs you to keep the bastard busy for a little; we're your backup… Can you manage while he takes Shino?" A clone whispered.

Slipping into her academy taijutsu stance, as Sakura's eyes bore into her fellow representative of Team Seven. "Like hell I can!" She promised, pissed off at the Uchiha for his half-assed peace offering.

The Aburame discreetly dispersed kikai beetles from his ankles, and took pleasure in the fact his target hadn't moved in on him yet. "In the past, I took you for the aggressive type," He noted.

Naruto's smirk hadn't been wiped off his face since returning from the restroom, which was a bit unnerving but Shino remained stoic as ever. "What? You thought I was gonna just run at you screaming?"

"I might have," Shino admitted, adjusting his glasses.

Naruto's smirk faltered momentarily and he allowed his eye to twitch for a second. "So I do still put off that impression…"

"Sorry," The Aburame stated in an unapologetic monotone.

Strangely, the Uzumaki's smirk returned though. _Good, I'll play on that just like I planned! I just have to be as predictable as possible… and BAM. Get him in one shot and go help Sakura beat up on the asshole._

Knowing Shino was aware of Naruto's training sessions with Genma, he and the two clones pulled senbon out. The Aburame heir wisely adjusted his weight in order to be ready to evade.

The blonde launched his projectiles first and immediately reached for more. Shino easily dodged the three needles sent at him but as the stoic Genin already knew the place he moved to was targeted by one of the shadow clones. The clone aimed high, and Shino ducked but immediately assessed it was intentional and was proven correct as he rolled to avoid the follow up from shadow clone number two. Of course, while he rolled out of the way, he pulled out a pair of kunai to deflect the second barrage from the original and shadow clone 1.

"I won't be caught off guard easily, Naruto. It's because I was there when Genma-sensei suggested the 'Relentless Hail' strategy to you during my own team's training," He explained blandly.

Naruto faked being annoyed and glared at his opponent. _Oh don't be so smug! You don't realize it but you're eating out of my hands!_

Kin watched on with interest. _That was pretty cool… I wonder how much chakra it takes to make clones like that. I'd do great with that sort of strategy, basic but effective._

 _Foolish, Naruto… My whole team was present and doing chakra control exercises when I taught you that theory._ Genma thought to himself, biting on his senbon comfortably.

 _You executed it well though… A pattern of senbon barrages based on timing performed with shadow clones in which you make your opponent evade continuously, taking turns on relentlessly striking where your target moves to repeatedly until you strike flesh or they make it to cover. I don't have the chakra reserves to waste on clones like that, but thanks to that damned fox it's all rather perfect for you kid._

 _Excellent choice of attack for an open battlefield like this. Maybe you could have inflicted some damage on someone that was unaware._ The Jonin assessed.

Music to Naruto's ears, a loud buzzing sound seemed to surround him and before he knew it he was being swarmed by beetles. "Arragu!" He mock panicked and aimlessly struck his arms out pointlessly as if trying to swat at the bugs before tripping to the ground.

"BOSS! OH CRAP!"

"BOSS!" His clones screamed and rushed to help him.

Inevitably, the kikai swarm took interest in the clones as well, as some dispersed to get all over the clones who screamed and dispelled.

"Naruto!" Anko shouted, unbelieving at how pathetic he just looked.

Shino watched on as his kikai swarm continued to eat away at his foe's chakra, satisfied but on alert. He knew Naruto worked hard, and he hadn't expected this to be so… _easy._ Contrary to common belief, Naruto was not a dead last, talentless, loser. He'd seen enough to be sure of that… Perhaps the Uzumaki simply was ill-prepared for his kikai and unaware of what he was actually facing? Seemed logical.

"I was silently surrounding you since just after the match started. I realize now that you may not have been fully aware of my clan's history, and acknowledge the irregularity of what you're facing. I do hope you have better luck next time, Naruto."

But then something _did_ set alarm bells in Shino's head. The swarm was… getting smaller? _How? What is he doing?_ It appeared like Naruto was just lying on the ground having his chakra absorbed, but as seconds flew by his swarm was rapidly decreasing in population.

Worried, the Aburame Genin called his kikai off to observe himself, and the blonde began laughing triumphantly as he slowly and dramatically pulled himself on one knee, still facing down as if concealing something. "Don't you…" He started.

Orochimaru, who currently had the best viewpoint of the Uzumaki from where he was standing, chuckled with amusement. "I'm beginning to like this brat," He muttered with a gleam in his eyes as he was the first to see just what Naruto did. _His clones did an adequate job acting as well; glad to see my teachings are seeping through Anko's._

Bringing himself to his feet completely, and pulling his chin up to face his former classmate, and most of those in the upper levels shared similar gaping or otherwise surprised expressions upon seeing the revelation of what currently resided on his face. "EVER UNDERESTIMATE ME!" The blonde finished off confidently.

His overly dramatic warning wasn't what caught the spectators off guard; no… it was the small, thin little bodies of garter snakes of varying colors slithering across his face and through his orange jumpsuit. His jumpsuit had been messed up pretty bad by it, apparently since the kikai weren't able to suck chakra through his trench coat they ventured inside but able to get through his orange get up… but his snakes had no qualm with busting wholes throughout it to feast on the bugs.

Deciding it would probably be better for now, he discarded the new clothing, leaving only his now horribly ruined jumpsuit on, which allowed everyone to see how far he took this, snakes sticking out of holes all along his torso and along his arms, around his neck and once again across his face.

"Eww! What the hell Naruto!" Ino squirmed.

Anko on the other hand was grinning. _So that whole restroom thing was a stupid charade so you could summon a fuck ton of garter snakes and hide them once you realized Shino was one of your opponents. Well played brat! Amazing how things work out when you kids use your brains._

 _Nice one Naruto!_ Kiba thought to himself, barely containing his laughter.

"Garter snakes like to prey on insects and things like mice or small tadpoles… But you probably already knew that," Naruto stated, his earlier smirk back. "At first I wasn't sure how to face you, but then I realized my summoning contract offers one of the world's greatest bug repellents!"

Shino paled slightly, realizing the tables had turned on him that quickly.

"Send those things near me… And they'll eat every last one of em' alive until I extinguish your whole hive!" He threatened, licking his lips Anko-style.

* * *

Sakura ducked a roundhouse from the rookie of the year, and leapt back while he regained his balance. So far, she'd only engaged her fellow Team Seven member in Taijutsu, knowing she couldn't afford to fight him in a Ninjutsu showdown, possessing very few beyond the most basic. If she tried Genjutsu, —which she wasn't so skilled in yet— he would probably break it before she was finished with him and activate his Sharingan to play it safe.

Encouraging him to utilize his Sharingan was the last thing she wanted to do, it was bad enough how lopsided the fight was going as it was.

The raven haired Genin closed the gap, content with the Taijutsu duel as well, really seeing her as just a warm up on the off chance he got to fight Naruto. Besides, if he could help it… Why show Neji, Lee, Gaara or any of the other Genin unfamiliar with him what he was capable of?

She parried his initial strikes with quick succession, and caught a glimpse of his leg sweep coming and flipped herself in the air, landing on the other side of the Uchiha and lashed out with a kick of her own upon landing that he effortlessly blocked. Grabbing her with both hands, he tossed her aside like a sack of rotten potatoes. Wasting no time, he ran towards her where she began to lift herself back up but halted to avoid the kunai spray from her clone supporters.

"Hn, annoying as ever Naruto," He commented.

 _Ninjutsu is your specialty little brother… Are you holding back for your teammate's sake? Or your own?_ Itachi wondered, sparing a sideways glance at the victorious Hyuga from the first fight.

Ironically, Sakura had to admit… Sasuke had a lot to do with her growth as a kunoichi. Well, more like the combination of Sasuke and Ino for completely opposite reasons. Early on, being on his team made her crave his attention… and with Ino there looking for the same and at her throat all the time they were motivated and improved so much over the months.

As bad as Team Seven was sadly known to be, there was one thing no one could deny. Sasuke indirectly made his teammates better and with every rude or demeaning word, every insult and brush off… he actually cultivated their maturity as people as well.

 _Flashback series_

 _Sakura, Ino and an agitated Sasuke approached the ramen stand for a quick meal as the two kunoichi squabbled endlessly. "Uh… hi Sakura," Naruto spoke up, suddenly snapping them out of their stupid argument._

 _She turned around having not realized he was even there._

 _"_ _Oh cool, Naruto's here," Ino acknowledged. He just stared at her with a suspicious expression. "How about that Sasuke. We can go on a double date now… You and me, Naruto and billboard brow!"_

 _Sakura got up to lash out at Ino so fast she knocked over two of Naruto's bowls of ramen. Naruto looked at the two Kunoichi battling and rolling around the floor and then back to the wasted ramen agape. "It's okay Naruto…" Ayame got his attention. "I've got you," she winked and turned back to the fighting customers._

 _"_ _As for you two, get out! We're not going to serve people who spill our customer's food and disrupt our restaurant. The old man nodded in agreement._

 _"_ _See look what you did now billboard brow!"_

 _"_ _You provoked me Ino-pig!"_

 _"_ _Thanks Ayame," as she placed two more bowls down for him._

 _"_ _No problem," she smiled._

 _"_ _Come on Sasuke," Ino called cheerfully._

 _"_ _No," he responded bluntly. "They kicked you out, not me," He clarified in a practically relieved tone._

 _Ino ran off in a huff, Sakura in the opposite direction._

 **We acted like spoiled children…** _Sakura reflected._

 _Sakura rested against a tree watching Sasuke go through weapons practice, barely acknowledging she was even there. Since Ino didn't show up for this session, she decided to just relax and watch her beloved. Occasionally she glanced around, half-expecting Ino to show but she knew it was unlikely after word got out about Anko's team killing a rogue ninja from her clan. Apparently it was a big deal, and as a member of the Yamanaka clan she would join her family to visit Shikamaru who was hospitalized the moment they made it back to the village._

 _"_ _Hey, Sasuke how about we take a break? We should really go see how Shikamaru's doing."_

 _"_ _What do you mean we?" Sasuke grunted, angrily. Sakura, caught by surprise at his fury jumped slightly. "You aren't doing anything! You're just gawking at me like some kind of idiot! You want to waste your time instead of training then just go! Leave me out of it."_

 ** _And over time the crap took its toll…_**

 _The members of Teams Six, Seven and Nine settled for gathering behind a large boulder, but they knew it was only a matter of time before they would be discovered by Kakuzu's chakra constructs. The sound of Naruto's being blasted with lightning and dying off could be heard in the background._

 _"_ _He's alive, but in dire condition…" Sakura told them as she rested Kakashi against the boulder slowly._

 _"_ _What're we going to do?" Tenten asked._

 _"_ _Someone has to take him and retreat back to the Hidden Leaf village, as fast as they can," Shikamaru replied thoughtfully._

 _"_ _Byakugan," Neji whispered and activated his Dojutsu, staring right through the boulder. "The chakra constructs haven't caught onto our position yet, but we don't have much time."_

 _"_ _Maybe we should try setting up a trap and luring them in, they're jutsus are crazy strong…" Tenten suggested._

 _"_ _One thing at a time here, who's taking Kakashi-sensei back to the Leaf?" Kiba spun everyone's attention back._

 _"_ _I think the least useful person here should be the one to do it," Sasuke suggested._

 _"_ _Hey, I know what you're about to say and you can forget it! I'm not the dead last anymore! And I won't leave my sensei and teammates behind when we're up against this! Forget it!" Naruto exploded._

 _Sasuke eyed him carefully. "I actually wasn't referring to you…" He stated, quite aware of his stunts with the shadow clones twice throughout the battle and shifted his gaze to Sakura. "I was talking about her."_

 ** _Until you reunited Ino and I unintentionally…_**

 _End Flashbacks_

She was dragged out of her thoughts as her punch missed and a knee to the torso forced her away. Shadow clones ran interference for her again from a slight distance with their kunai and shuriken, disallowing him from following up on that blow. Irritated, he tossed a few of his own kunai out to intercept the second barrage after avoiding the first, showing impressive skill as each of his deflected one of the clone's projectiles.

Tired of the damn clone's keeping out of it to support her when she needed it most… the Uchiha changed tactics and sprinted at the nearest one, planning to get rid of the meddling bastards.

Moving to intercept her opponent, one thought rang through her mind in conclusion to the ones that had just distracted her.

 _We don't want your attention anymore, Sasuke._

 _We want your respect._

* * *

"Taijutsu's not your thing is it?" Naruto smirked as he halted his assault on the Aburame, who he'd been steadily wearing down since he dawned his ' _Hidden Snake Armor'_ as he was now calling it, though it was rather tempting to simply dub it _'Bug Spray'_ and drape himself in the snake venom… but garter snakes couldn't really do that so this would have to suffice. Besides, Team Six had a lot of work to do on immunities unlike Anko-sensei…

"Logically, as a long range fighter, I would not focus enough on my close range technique and ability to partake in confined combat," Shino admitted through panting monotone.

Naruto sweatdropped at how many words he used to basically say: ' _I excel at long range, so I don't work on close range stuff much'_

 _I'm willing to bet you were counting on that Naruto…_ Shikamaru thought to himself. _I can't believe you came up with all of this on the spot though, you troublesome unpredictable little…_

The fight was not going Shino's way at all, with Naruto covered in his own personal insecticide; he couldn't risk his hive against him. That pretty much eliminated Ninjutsu attacks for him, and it was quite clear Naruto was the superior of the two in Taijutsu. The Aburame was but a novice in Genjutsu, so it was illogical for him to try that.

That didn't leave him many cards to play with… Did Naruto know about Genma-sensei teaching Team One to use poisons?

He had no time to contemplate that possibility as the snake armored Genin charged at him again, intent on finishing things up on his terms. Shino defended himself, but was idly seeking an opportunity to slip away and reconsider the use of poison.

Naruto's tricks hadn't quite reached their grand finale however, as Shino caught his right hand and rather than pull it back he stepped forward and continued to drive it into the other Genin's palm to the Aburame's initial confusion. He didn't even have a chance to formulate a question in his head when he saw a trio of the garter snakes lunge into _his own sleeve._

The usually stoic member of the rookie nine frantically disengaged from the Uzumaki and raced to remove his jacket, at the same time feeling the snakes take separate directions to find and devour kikai stragglers. He silently willed the bugs to retreat into their tunnels while he worked on solving the problem, but apparently this was all a distraction designed by Naruto judging by the group of clones charging at him along with the original.

The only thing that set the original apart from the others was the snakes; unfortunately he couldn't clone those, but for this little plan that was just fine.

Shino hurriedly ran through handsigns, deciding it was only logical that he should gamble if his only other option appeared to be annihilation.

The original Naruto, used a clone as a launching pad to get into the air while others moved into position around their target and kicked up at him simultaneously, sending him flying upwards to meet a vicious kick from the original himself as he called out: "Uzumaki Barrage!" and Shino's unconscious body landed to the floor with a violent thud.

* * *

 _Impressive, I thought he was done for._ Itachi silently commended the Aburame.

"What's he _doing?"_ Kin voiced, deadpanned.

Naruto was enjoying a brief celebration with his clones after performing some flashy looking attack striking nothing but air while Shino retreated, looking like he was in a deep concentration to hold a jutsu together.

Kiba's face crinkled up in disgust. "I think I can smell a Genjutsu guys…"

"Yeah, I think Shino got him just in time, he was making handsigns right before Naruto hit him," Shikamaru agreed.

"I _hate_ Genjutsu," Kiba groaned. "So does Naruto… Let's just hope he realizes it in time!"

Anko watched on with an irritated scowl on her face. For a moment, it seemed like one of her students was about to stun most of the people there with a sound thrashing of one of the year's top prospects.

The spectators that weren't currently absorbed in Sasuke and Sakura's part of the battle eyed the Uzumaki with mixed reactions as his armor of garter snakes dispelled. Apparently in Shino's illusion they didn't seem necessary anymore.

But now, he appeared to be in deep shit. _Damn it Naruto… Dispel the Genjutsu!_ Anko inwardly screamed at her apprentice.

Before the delusional Naruto could wander off to fight Sasuke… a senbon needle buried itself into his neck. "Aargh," he grunted, carefully removing the foreign object from his neck confusedly. The pain jarred him out of the Genjutsu and the look on his face was priceless to anyone who wasn't rooting for him.

"What the hell…"

"I did not expect that to work," Shino admitted. "But I am grateful for it did. I used a Genjutsu to make you believe your attack worked… and then injected a poison into your system through that senbon."

"Genjutsu!" He facepalmed. "It's always Genjutsu…" He grumbled. "Wait, what? _Poison?"_

Shino adjusted his glasses. "Its effects are instantaneous, within moments… you will not be able to feel anything, you will succumb to extreme numbness and because of this… Unable to control your motions. Needless to say, because of this… You will be unable to fight."

* * *

Dipping Sasuke's attack, the Haruno jabbed upwards and finally managed to land a solid hit across his chin. Both fighters widened their eyes in surprise. Sakura had never laid a clean hit on Sasuke before. Not in training, and certainly not in this match.

Recovering from their daze, Sasuke retaliated with a left hook that she evaded by leaping back rather than attempting to press on her assault. _Damn it, what's wrong with me?_ She chided herself, knowing she should've tried to land as many blows as possible after the first but wasted the opportunity in the midst of her shock. _Idiot._

Sasuke rubbed his chin and found blood on his fingers; he stared at it for a second and smirked at the pinkette before disregarding the unwelcome liquid.

She mentally sighed. She finally got a good hit in and she blew the chance like some kind of… _useless idiot_. Her inner frustration escalated when she labeled her slip up something akin to what Sasuke would happily call her or Ino regularly.

Knowing Sasuke wasn't going to stand around much longer she shook it off and searched her mind for ideas frantically. _Come on, think! He's your teammate, how could you not know of a weakness to exploit?_

 _Because we were too busy fawning over him!_ Inner-Sakura answered, which she promptly ignored.

"Do you intend to somehow beat me solely with defensive Taijutsu? Or are you hoping dead last will beat Shino and up your chances?" He asked mockingly.

Sakura didn't bother to answer. _There has to be something he's not good at…_ Aside from Kakashi, or possibly Ino, no one had seen Sasuke practice more and was more familiar with his fighting style (excluding Itachi of course) than the pink haired kunoichi. She was using all the times she'd watched – and admired – him to defend and compensate for his speed and skill but she wasn't going to be able to keep this up forever. He wasn't even trying that hard!

The Haruno huffed and adjusted her hair out of her vision and awaited his assault. _I can't attack him head on, but if I keep playing defense like this it's only a matter of time before he gets through my guard. Naruto's clones are gone; I have to DO something._

Sasuke reinitiated the duel, attempting to force through her defenses again more aggressively. While he'd made it a goal to beat her without giving up to his real opponents what he could do, she was holding her own better than he expected and that was a good enough reason for him to end it before he could be caught by surprise and be forced to use Ninjutsu.

Underestimating an opponent too harshly would be foolish, even if his opponent was only Sakura.

She saw the look in his eyes, it was the look of a predator looking to finish off their prey. He was about to get a little more serious, but not to acknowledge her… But rather, to just get the match over with. She clenched her fists with determination and felt the adrenaline release. Willpower began to take over for the kunoichi; she was fighting without thinking. For once, the moves were coming out reflexively. She couldn't afford to over think or make a mistake. She didn't have to win, but she had to last…

Repelling a few strikes from the raven haired Uchiha, she almost landed a hit in retaliation, catching Sasuke by surprise as that was the first risky swing she'd taken that left her exposed. Naturally, the Uchiha grabbed her wrist and guided it passed him, and kneed his teammate in her exposed ribs violently.

Sakura was almost oblivious to the blood that forced its way through her gritted teeth as she ignored the pain and the moment she felt the grip on her arm release she flung it back as hard as she could, backhanding the Uchiha in the face and regaining her footing.

In the upper level, Ino watched on with an awestruck look on her face. _S-Sakura took a hit like that? And repaid him right away? Sakura!?_ The idea her old friend could do something like that was outlandish… it just wasn't her.

As he regained his own composure… she pressed on with her first actual attack of the fight, feeling her confidence rise a bit.

Sasuke for his part was displeased with himself to say the least, as he deflected and evaded her offensive. _Knowing her, I was so sure that she would be too affected by coughing blood up like that I let my guard down… If only for a moment._ Team Seven's strongest now found himself exchanging blows with its weakest, and yet the fight was escalating rather than easing into closure.

But that was the problem, Sasuke realized. He wasn't facing the Sakura he knew. The Sakura he knew was a weak, annoying fangirl that sought his affection and leeched off of what little success him, Kakashi, and in some situations such as that time against Zabuza… Ino, had manufactured. The Sakura he knew barely deserved the title of kunoichi! And Ino wasn't much better!

The girl he was facing now fought with a chip on her shoulder, and had a look in her eyes that in some way reminded him of his own when he looked in the mirror. _She wouldn't be fighting like this against someone else._ He realized, catching a punch and leaning in to jab at her gut. She twisted out of his reach and extended her leg up at his chin while he was conveniently bent towards her.

Seeing this coming, he expertly adjusted his position to narrowly escape it, only barely keeping balance on balls of his feet. Before she could take advantage of that, he performed a handspring to slam the window for an attack on her fingertips.

 _This has proven to be more interesting than I had imagined. But I'm still not taking the Ninjutsu or Genjutsu handicaps off, it's not necessary._

* * *

"You fought well, Naruto."

Anko's student was on his knees, his eyes stuck on Shino as he tried to think of something he could do. He felt his body growing more and more numb. Shino was _not_ bluffing. He would be incapacitated a moment and there was no way to stop it. Judging by how fast his body was going numb, and the small bits Anko taught them about venoms he knew it traveled through his system incredibly fast so self inflicting an injury wasn't going to be enough.

Had he IMMEDIATELY inflicted a wound where the senbon hit… Perhaps it would've worked. Then again, the senbon had been lodged into his neck; he couldn't just stab his neck like that and expect to not threaten his own life so he supposed it didn't matter. Now that he thought about it… Anko-sensei had mentioned the neck was a good place to inject poison because it circulated through the body quicker.

He clenched a fist, though he could barely tell he moved a muscle, and let out a small growl. "DAMN IT!"

He was going to lose, he couldn't believe he was going to lose because of that _stupid_ Genjutsu… after all that he came up with to negate his opponent's skills like that. For what? To lose like this?

 _Wait…_ He thought, clenching and unclenching his fist. He couldn't really feel the movement at all, but it _was_ moving… but Shino had said he wouldn't be able to move at all?

"I would like to express my gratitude to you Naruto… You've enlightened me; I am perhaps overly reliant on my hive. I may need to reassess this potential weakness," Shino remarked, walking up to the now incapacitated boy, who was staring at his hand and forced it into a fist yet again, as if testing the poison's affect on him.

"It's because of you that I am seeing my current skill set in new light." _His eyes have changed color…_ Shino noted with interest. He would need to ask about that sometime.

"Proctor," He called out to Asuma in monotone, turning his back to the Uzumaki. "My opponent is unable to contin– "

A flash of orange emerged from its knees, pulling a kunai out and cocking his arm back with all his might a battle cry escaping his lips as he brought the blunt side of the knife down on the unsuspecting Shino with a brutal hit to his temple. Both Genin collapsed. Naruto, because of his inability to feel his body… Shino, because he was out cold.

"SHINO!" Choji and Hinata panicked.

"Atta' boy Naruto!" Anko cheered, Shikamaru and Kiba were too busy having their jaws fall to the floor wondering how he managed to do that.

"What the—What happened?" Ino prodded, as she had been watching Sakura and Sasuke when it happened.

Everyone was too shocked to answer her.

"Sh-Shino…" Naruto spoke. Struggling through the numbness, the Uzumaki managed to rise to his knees. Asuma and Genma each appeared by them, examining his injury and medics rushed in as well.

Orochimaru watched on with interest. _The Aburame brat said he wouldn't be able to control his body, yet Anko's brat hit him hard enough to knock him out? The Kyuubi's healing powers must have affected the boy's poison formula; it may have been strong enough for a normal human, but not the Ninetails Jinchuriki._ He hypothesized.

"He appears to be all right… concussion likely, but I'll leave him to the medical staff," Asuma announced, turning to Naruto. "Do you still plan to fight… Or do I need to call this match and allow the other two to advance?"

"I won't give up that easy…" Naruto refused, forcing himself to stand fully. The feeling of his body was practically gone, it was beyond weird. It was like he was a ghost or something. The blonde smirked to himself when he realized that should mean he can't feel pain, right?

"Shino Aburame has been eliminated!" He shouted so everyone could hear the official declaration during the still ongoing fight.

* * *

A Snow ninja gulped. "These Leaf ninja are crazy…"

"You got that right," Another nodded. "That Sasuke Uchiha hasn't even branched off from Taijutsu this entire time and he's barely taken a scratch."

"The girl didn't use anything else either."

"True, but if she won't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu he must be superior to her in those two. I think he's just hiding what he's capable from everyone."

"What? Shit… he must be something."

The Waterfall ninja were similarly nervous. "That blonde guy's a freak."

"He's impaired by a numbing poison and he won't quit… Dumbass."

"He's just shaking off the hits; I don't think he can feel pain right now!"

"Man… the second fight isn't even over yet and I can tell I don't want to face any of the people who've advanced," The third one whined.

Itachi inwardly chuckled behind his, er– _Gaara's_ emotional mask. _At least the foreign nations will be assured the Leaf hasn't declined as of late._

"You hit like a girl, Naruto," a smirking Sasuke chided, rubbing his cheek from where he'd been struck.

Sakura was panting heavily by the blonde's side, her determination waning as her limits were being pushed. Her stamina was pathetic and it was showing. "Whatever… I'm numb right now; it's not easy to tell how hard I'm hitting, bastard," Anko's Genin growled back.

"Tch, whatever you say. You're a real glutton for punishment right now; maybe that poison you keep talking about it is given you a durability advantage but are you sure you won't feel my foot up your ass _tomorrow_?" He taunted.

Nearly ten minutes had passed since Shino's defeat had become official. Naruto rushed in to relieve Sakura of the burden of fighting the rookie of the year. Unfortunately, the numbing poison was more of a nuisance for Naruto than a benefit.

At first, he was convinced that not feeling the pain would make it a lot easier to fight Sasuke… But then he jumped in and found that having your whole body numb made him slower and unbalanced. He took the damage from the Uchiha's counterattacks with no issue at all, but he was also a very unthreatening opponent with that poison in his system.

The punch he'd just landed was the first strike the Uchiha wasn't able to dodge and that was basically because his attention in that moment was diverged on the Haruno. Then Sasuke taunted him for being weak… Which probably wasn't a good sign as far as how well he was managing to control his muscles at the moment.

 _Your opponents are weak at the moment little brother. Defeat one of them, and this match is over… So who do you choose to eliminate. Your teammate, or the person who considers them self your rival?_

 _It's time to end this._ Sasuke decided. _But which one do I allow to advance? I suppose I should choose Sakura, she's weaker and would require less effort to defeat in the finals, and she's my teammate. On the other hand, Naruto could wear his first round opponent down a bit for me…_ He paused in mid thought to frown. _Or beat someone…_

Naruto Uzumaki was officially on Sasuke's radar. The dead last clown defeated _Shino_ , which to the last Uchiha… was inconceivable. _I didn't catch what happened between them during their fight, but I have to wonder._ If Naruto could become good enough to defeat someone like Shino Aburame, then who's to say a month of whatever training he'd been getting would indefinitely not be enough to catch up to Sasuke?

 _Sakura could never improve enough within a month to be a threat._ Sasuke decided, eyes narrowing on Naruto as he made his decision. _She can't even make me use Ninjutsu; Naruto it is._ Without another word, the raven haired Genin charged forward, engaging the poisoned Naruto.

Until… "Earth style: Mud Wall!" A bitter kunoichi's voice declared and Sasuke's punch was intercepted by a barrier that emerged from the tiles below. His fist penetrated with relative ease but his momentum faltered and at least stalled him. He retracted his hand and defended himself from his fellow Team Seven member irritably.

Knifing through her guard within seconds, delivering a blow to her gut that made her bent over, he placed a foot on her back and leapt off of her and onto the mud wall before jumping again, launching himself towards Naruto. He came down with a power kick that Naruto blocked with both hands, protecting his head.

Adjusting himself in midair, Sasuke propped himself up with one hand on the tile and nailed Naruto in the chest with a ferocious kick. The Uzumaki was fortunate he barely felt the impact and quickly recovered into a stance the best he could, though he couldn't help the sloppiness in it.

 _That poison is a gift and a curse._ Anko thought. _The question is… which side of it will prevail in the end, the gift? Or the curse?_

"I don't understand!" Choji complained. "How is Naruto even moving after that!? Shino doesn't make dosage mistakes."

"Quiet Choji!" Genma snapped, receiving odd, confused looks from his two conscious Genin but he did not open up to them with an explanation.

 _There's no need for anyone to realize the two of you know stuff about those poisons as well. Don't give information away kid._ Genma silently chastised. _Though you have a point. Shino is far too meticulous for this to happen… It must be that damn fox._

"Shadow Clone jutsu!" Six clones poofed into existence. "Hey, are you guys affected by the poison?"

"Uh… yeah boss."

"Oh, damn it," Naruto muttered, as Sasuke moved in and began easily disposing of the motion tainted copies. He was hoping that much like how he couldn't create clones that carried the Hidden Snake Armor, they wouldn't have the poison pass into them.

 _If poison works through the bloodstream… How in the fuck does it affect clones made out of chakra?_ He complained in his head, taking a swing at Sasuke while he was off balance but just off target. He was sent skidding across the arena for his trouble.

Getting back on his feet was not an easy thing to do while numbed out but he did so as fast as currently possible. Sasuke was rushing towards him with a look on his face that screamed ' _knockout blow' Before_ another clash could commence between the boys, a flash of pink re-entered the fray.

 _I guess I'll try THAT now…_ The Uzumaki decided, running out of moves he could still effectively use, making his signature handsign generating a trio of shadow clones. "You guys know what to do…"

The pinkette let out a groan of discomfort when she impacted with the ground harshly. She was just too tired to tangle with Sasuke at this point. She did everything she could but there was no gas left in the tank. He knew it and she knew it. It was probably obvious to everyone in the arena. Her pupils widened as she watched Sasuke take off in the other direction, where Naruto's fresh batch of clones were heading towards.

 _He… is trying to let me advance to beat Naruto instead? But why?_ She pondered, getting back onto her knees.

Sasuke's ebony eyes briefly showed a flash of worry as he realized what the blonde's clones were attempting and dove away from them, rolling sideways without stopping while the clones tried to pursue with their inhibited control over muscles. The Uchiha didn't even consider halting until he heard the all too familiar sound of explosive tags going off.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Suicide clones?"

Anko shot him a smirk. "They were my idea… And just so you know, he likes to call them Clone Kamikazes."

Shika rolled his eyes. "I should really be used to your sick mind by now," He murmured and the Inuzuka laughed.

"They're just clones," Anko snorted. "And if their target doesn't know it's a clone they'll be _really_ caught by surprise."

Sasuke huffed in annoyance and glared across the arena at his blonde foe. "You all right, Sakura?" Said foe, asked, keeping his blue orbs fixated on the Uchiha.

"I'm fine," She waved off. "But what are we going to do?"

"I…" He faltered. Just what the hell were they going to do? Sasuke had been pushed at this point; the fight was dragging out and a long time had passed since its start but that didn't change the fact that he had yet to use a single Ninjutsu or his Sharingan.

Sakura had only used the Substitution jutsu and a lone Mud Wall… but her reserves were terrible and she'd pushed her limits through Taijutsu and wore herself out completely. The last two times she engaged Sasuke… she was casted aside like nothing within a few strikes.

For Naruto, chakra was never a question. There wasn't a jutsu in his arsenal he still didn't have the chakra for… But the poison was a nagging issue that limited his capabilities. Sasuke may be fighting on self-created handicaps by choice, but Naruto's were there to stick… Sasuke could launch a Fireball the second he deemed it necessary. And right now, the Uzumaki would be lucky to get a good enough grip on a kunai to aim it properly.

"We can't beat him like this," Sakura stated. "Not with you poisoned and me exhausted. This is _Sasuke_ we're talking about."

Naruto's expression hardened. "Don't say that Sakura… We'll find a way!"

"It's pointless… The only reason this fight is still ongoing is because Sasuke is trying to finish you instead of me."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, he hadn't noticed that. Was it true? Was Sasuke going out of his way to fight him? Since when did Sasuke give him the time of day!? "Sakura! No," He tried to stop her as she raised dour hand up and set her gaze on the proctor.

 _Sorry Naruto… But I won't let Sasuke use me as the reason why you get eliminated._ "Proctor, I forfeit…" Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened slightly for different reasons. Naruto because he felt bad that his teammate was giving up because he couldn't find an edge to fight his rival with and Sasuke because he didn't believe she was willing to quit on beating him. "I don't have the energy or will to keep fighting anymore," She added, a grim look on her face.

"Sakura…" Ino whispered in the upper level so quietly only Kin, who was next to her heard.

"Your friend gave it her all…" The older kunoichi consoled.

"I know," She agreed with a just a ghost of a smile. "I don't think I would've lasted half as long against Sasuke. I just wish she would've found a way to win."

"Sakura Haruno eliminated by forfeit… So that means Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki advance to the finals!" Asuma bellowed for the whole room to hear, making it official.

Sakura and Sasuke's eyes met one more time. The intensity of their glares reached a new plateau; one of them was fed up, and the other was doing something he hadn't tried to do until recently. He was trying to understand his teammate. The heated staring contest broke off as Sakura turned her back to him and headed towards the stairs and Naruto walked over to his trench jacket, nearly forgetting that he discarded it after revealing the garter snakes.

"Just what the hell are these kids made of…?" Was heard from one of the now thoroughly intimidated Waterfall ninja.

 ** _A/N:_** **Okay, so Sakura possesses the Mud Wall jutsu… I decided this time around Kakashi actually gave her** ** _something,_** **problem is she has no other Ninjutsu outside the absolute basic and that one is defensive XD So yes Sakura is indeed still really really weak right now.**

 **Those of you who've been thinking I wasn't giving Naruto new tricks are being proven wrong :P The Hidden Snake Armor was an improvising thing he did just to face Shino, but he (Kiba/Shika as well) have plenty of tricks in regards to Snakes. I try to mix up their uses in every battle someone brings them out, regardless of who it is.**

 **The senbon stuff IMO is cool but he needs to work on it more before I let him use it more regularly. Right now he can throw accurately and all but the chakra enhancing jutsus he needs time. Also for the immediate future he will only be able to do Wind style ones, but there will be a bunch of stuff I've come up with for senbon with each element.**

 **Originally, I was stoked for this chapter to put on some awesome Sasuke/Naruto but… I had to make beating Shino more challenging than it was turning out to be so Naruto wound up poisoned. At that point it seemed stupid to try and have any epic Sasuke/Naruto fighting since he was numb as fuck -_- So I guess I'll have to set that aside for a future chapter!**

 **Hope it was as good as I thought, let me know R n' R please! Pointa out**


	24. Friendly Fire

**Chapter 24: Friendly Fire**

 ** _A/N:_** **I went back and read all 23 chapters… silently kicking myself for not doing one-shots or something to knock the rust off before starting this. Chapters 1-8 are so bad in comparison to the say… the last 8 updates? Lol There's a serious gap in quality but oh well I can always revise them at some point I suppose.**

 **Speaking of one-shots, I posted one the other day that is Orochimaru bringing an issue to Hiruzen regarding Jiraiya's perverseness titled "The Super Pervert Strikes Again" if you want a quick laugh or two. There's also an OMAKE at the end of this chapter.**

 **In response to GUEST: You didn't provide critique, you asked a rhetorical question and told me to kill myself. There's a difference. Critique is welcome; you're not. Feel free to continue adding to my review count dumbass I'm not replying you again.**

 **Let's get these prelims movin! Enjoy**

"All right Neji," Tenten smirked. "Explain."

The Genin in question for once didn't have an answer for her. Shino Aburame, the heir to the Aburame clan… just lost to a near dropout after a few months of being a Genin. The Uchiha came through, as expected… But what explanation did he have from Naruto Uzumaki's name moving onto the finals and not Shino? "I misjudged fate, that's all.." He scowled.

Tenten rolled her eyes at this. "Every time you're wrong about something you _'misjudged'_ it."

With that, the Hyuga ignored her and awaited the next match as the two spandex clad ninja quietly processed the short conversation between their teammates. It was unclear whether or not her statement hit home, but knowing Neji's stubbornness that was unlikely.

An enthusiastic fist brushed across Naruto's face as he and Sakura finished their climb up the stairs forcing his neck to jolt to the right.

"What the hell was that for!?" His eyes set themselves on a wildly smirking Kiba who shrugged dismissively.

"I wanted to see if you were really numb."

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. "Idiot." Kin failed to suppress a giggle as Naruto started grumbling to Kiba what he would do to him if he could fight properly until Anko intervened.

"Kiba, it's not fun when the victim doesn't feel it."

"Debatable," He claimed.

"Hmm…" She proceeded to give Naruto a quick smack and he just stared at her with a look of betrayal and agitation. "Nope, not fun. Not at all," She disagreed, and just as Kiba was about to speak she did the same to him.

"Oww, damn it!"

Anko smiled. "See, that's much more amusing!"

Shikamaru sweatdropped. _Women…_

Naruto snickered and she grew more serious. "You did well kid, really! Unfortunate that he slipped a Genjutsu by you but it all worked out in the end. I'm especially proud of the garter snake idea," She praised.

"Thank you, sensei…" He then frowned. "I don't know if I'd have advanced if Sakura didn't forfeit… I'll just have to train even harder! It's a good thing they give us a month."

His teammates, Kin included, smirked at his declaration of war on the exams.

 _Sakura shouldn't have been standing anyways kid… The Uchiha brat was going out of his way to defeat you instead. Maybe because Sakura is his teammate or maybe because he wanted you while you were weakened. In either case, I bet he wouldn't admit it._ Anko considered.

Kin regarded her blonde teammate –new teammate– as he plopped down and slumped against the wall, not caring to land gracefully since he couldn't feel anything either way. He didn't look all that happy, it was as if he were just putting a mask on for them because he advanced but she could tell his feelings were mixed.

She glanced at Anko who seemed to see it as well and gave her a curt nod, signaling Kin to try and talk to him. After all, this would be a good thing… She needed to slither her way into the team dynamic, no pun intended, and that meant knowing them on a more personal level.

But before she spoke up, the Nara voiced his own concern. "Naruto, why do you look displeased with your fight?" He asked, already suspicious of the reason.

Naruto stared at the tile then shot a glance at Sakura who was leaning on the rail whispering things with Ino who was consoling her and perhaps encouraging. Kin caught onto the glance and realized what it was about. "Well… You know how I am about Sasuke. Him advancing instead of Sakura because I couldn't take him puts a bad taste in my mouth," He excused.

Their sensei narrowed her eyes. "You know you couldn't fight anywhere near your best with that poison, don't sell your performance short. You'll get your shot at that brat another time."

Naruto nodded. "I know, but I don't have to be satisfied."

Kiba felt a twinge of anger flare up inside, reserved for the same Uchiha. "Don't worry Naruto; after Shika and I kick someone's sorry asses and train for the next month one of us three are gonna pay him back for every little comment he's made."

"Oi, don't sign me up for that trouble without even talking to me!"

For Kiba, the issue of Sasuke didn't stem from the academy days like Naruto, nor the rejection of love in Ino and Sakura's cases (thank God!) but rather the recent times their paths have crossed. His relationship with his teammates made him want to cringe. Teams are like packs, and the pack is a sacred bond for an Inuzuka. Watching someone cause his two teammates pain and misery all the time, as well as stir up the anger of his own pack (Naruto) was unacceptable to him.

And there was also that public humiliation during the mission with the Akatsuki… Where he blatantly called Sakura the "most useless person there." Things like that didn't fly with him, and so he had bones to pick with both Sasuke and Neji who he didn't even know… But had silently listened in to his ridiculous bickering with his teammate Lee as well as Hinata. He also appreciated Genma-sensei stepping into that verbal scuffle; it was nice to know Hinata's sensei wasn't going to allow that abuse. Yep, Genma scored some points in Kiba's imaginary respect book.

Naruto let out a soft, nearly inaudible chuckle. "Thanks Kiba…" But his eyes and mind had already pushed Sasuke out of his mind and were once again refocused on the pink haired Genin that was still conversing quietly with Ino, which only Kin picked up on as the other's attention was ripped away to read the names that appeared on the screen.

"Waterfall ninja versus that Gaara guy and Tenten? Interesting…" The Inuzuka mused.

"Troublesome," Shika corrected.

Kiba laughed. "Oh come on! I've been wondering what that guy can do ever sense we got back from the second stage."

Naruto wasn't even paying attention.

'Baki' betrayed no reaction upon seeing Ita- well, Gaara's name on the screen. If anything, he had an uncaring posture about him that practically decreed that he expected his strongest Genin to come out on top.

Kankuro actually did a loud mock yawn. "Hey sis, you ready to watch the most uninteresting fight in the whole exams?"

"Shut up Kankuro!" She berated, understanding why he felt that way though as Itachi and his partner from the Leaf, Tenten, met at the top of the stairway and began walking down.

"What?" He snapped back defensively.

Two of the three ninja representing the Hidden Waterfall stood ready, but anxiety was clear on their faces. Those first two fights featuring a total of six Leaf shinobi and two Sand shinobi in total was insane! Only one out of the eight looked like they didn't even remotely belong in the conversation for Chunin and that was the pink haired girl. In all fairness to her, she fought on with resilience akin to a cockroach in that battle, so at least she had the respect of most people present in the room.

Now these two poor bastards were facing the final representative of the Sand, who carried himself with an aura of emotionless and coldness most of the time that made him look like a fucking Jonin and judging by the way his teammates and sensei acted, there was no doubt in any of their minds he was going to win. That was not doing anything to ease their nerves. Along with him… Was another damn Leaf ninja. This one's teammates were the Taijutsu experts from the first match, if she was anything like those freaks they were done for and they knew it.

"Is everyone ready?" Asuma asked, receiving silent nods from the four shinobi.

Itachi subtly inhaled some air as he awaited the order. "Begin!" The proctor proclaimed and leapt out of the way.

 _Well, this one's going to be boring._ Anko figured.

Unlike the two previous fights, this one started immediately; there was no moment of stalling or analytical stare down between the quad of Genin. Wasting no time, Tenten did exactly as her Sand teammate instructed her to do halfway down the stairs moments prior. Ripping a pair of storage scrolls out and unleashing their contents.

Before either Waterfall shinobi could think about deflecting and evading, 'Gaara' exhaled his chakra infused breath, enhancing the kunai shower with a wind jutsu. In the blink of an eye, the two unsuspecting shinobi dropped to the ground with more kunai lodged into their forms than Kakashi had porn in his stash of Icha Icha's.

Needless to say, they gave up.

Kankuro cackled. "See, snoozefest sis. I blinked and it was over!" Temari rolled her eyes at him, as it was kind of obvious what the end result was going to be to anyone who knew 'Gaara' wasn't Gaara.

The third Waterfall ninja up in the upper levels gawked at them in horror. That fight ended faster than a rock paper scissors match.

Kiba snorted. "What was that? Five seconds?"

"I think it was four, actually," Anko laughed.

Naruto, who'd been in a bit of a trance in his thoughts blinked. "Wait… that fight's already over?"

"Yup," His sensei supplied.

He sweatdropped. "…Wow… Now that's lame."

"What a drag; it ended so fast I don't know how to measure Gaara's strength. All we got out of that is he knows Wind style Ninjutsu… But big deal, that's pretty common with Sand shinobi."

"Yeah," Kin grumbled. "Everyone's as in the dark as they were a minute ago. A lot of good it did us to watch that fight."

"What fight?" Kiba laughed hysterically. "All they did was give us a village to make fun of."

Anko chuckled at that. "Ah uh ah… It's not nice to make fun of allied villages Kiba."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "And you actually care?"

"I didn't say that Shika, don't twist my words," She smirked.

Naruto's mind had began wandering off again, and Kin let the other members of Team Six continue their muses on what was probably the most pathetic battle in the history of the Chunin exams and slid down next to him on the floor. He turned to her eying her inquisitively.

She smiled at the blonde knowingly and whispered. "I know what's eating you up."

Not getting a response aside from blank staring she continued. "They teased you about liking her earlier, and you didn't deny anything… So you do, right?" She received a nod in return, as he was wondering where this was going. It's not like he and Kin went way back after all, sure she was supposedly apart of Team Six temporarily but it was kind of weird for her to take an interest in his nonexistent love life.

"You're worried she's going to be upset with you or blame you for her elimination, aren't you?"

He had a moment of hesitation and swallowed hard. It was strange hearing that from someone he didn't really know. Why was she able to read it so easily? "Today has been kind of weird…" He started, licking his dry lips. "In the past, she's ignored me and sometimes lashed out and said harsh things when I've attempted to ask her out. Recently she's been more neutral but today it was completely different."

"How so?" The kunoichi asked.

"She… approached me," He elaborated. "I didn't start our interaction, she did. She finally started to acknowledge me and she volunteered to be my partner and now look how it turned out…" He trailed off.

"So what you're really worried about is falling back to square one?" He nodded. "And you both seem to have some grudges with that Sasuke guy. Well actually, it seems like every one of you does," She snickered, lightening the mood between them.

"Look, don't worry about any of that… I don't know Sakura so I can't predict what she'll do," She admitted. "But it would be completely unfair to place the blame on you. She fought hard, but she still got her ass kicked, honestly. You on the other hand, entered as an underdog and defeated one of your opponents. If she resents you for this… She'll be _hearing_ from your new teammate," She smirked.

"Thanks Kin…" He offered, feeling cheered up a little.

She returned his smile and he couldn't help but notice how pretty she was herself. How did he not notice that really until now? Must have had his mind fixated on the preliminaries. Like Anko, she went light on makeup but was a knockout in the looks department in spite of that. She had a beautiful smile coated in a lipstick that was just a hint brighter than her natural shade and elegant long hair, though thicker than Sakura's.

Thankfully she stood back up and walked over to the rail in case her name was coming on the screen next, saving him from the inevitable embarrassment he would've been caught in if she noticed his blush.

A slight smile was still tugging at Kin's lips until she reached that rail and the screen flashed the names of the fourth battle. She froze. She felt like her heart was going to crawl up her throat in alarm as she just stared at it.

 _My turn._ Ino realized and walked over to Kin and the others, begrudgingly leaving her best friend behind to continue to soak in the wounds of her battle alone for awhile. _But who are those guys?_ She thought, reading the names.

"Good luck Ino!" Sakura called out to her friend's retreating form.

"What's the matter, Kin?" Kiba probed cautiously. "Are they—"

"Yes," Anko cut in, irate at the randomizer.

Another Leaf Genin on the other side of the room gaped at the screen in disbelief. "Oh man, we gotta fight Kin!"

"Got to do what we got to do, you want this stupid promotion, right?" His teammate, the final member of Team Tokuro sighed.

The Hyuga Jonin of their squad ignored his two pupils and chose to shoot his all-seeing eyes at his now _former_ student. Considering she'd been removed from his squad and placed on Anko's, it had become obvious that she was working for Anko and by proxy Orochimaru. She truly was spying; perhaps he should have killed her after all.

All he knew on the matter was that damned Snake harpy and her Inuzuka brat insisted on finding her, and his two pupils followed out of distrust towards their sensei's enemy. Then they found Kin under the sleep induced Genjutsu he left her confined in within the closet of their quarters. Despite all this, nothing had happened to Tokuro aside from a message informing him that Kin's jurisdiction had been moved from him to Anko. That greatly confused him, and he wondered if the Hokage was planning to set him up for something. Perhaps Orochimaru had managed to sneak a Genjutsu by Lord Third and was going to use it to make Tokuro the scapegoat to whatever atrocity he was planning to commit next? It wasn't the most likely theory in the world, but it was possible. It made a lot more sense than the Hokage _ignoring_ that he attacked his own student.

Oh yes… Tokuro Hyuga's brain never ceased.

Anko's hazel eyes met Tokuro's white, dripping with malice. The Hyuga returned it with every ounce, and didn't turn his gaze away until he noticed Bak— no… _Orochimaru's_ unamused glare in his general direction.

The Jonin seethed inwardly but knew he could not act on it now. If he did, he had no doubt three would be intervention by the Hokage, the ANBU proctor that was conveniently the Hokage's son, as well as Maito Gai and Genma Shiranui along with obviously Orochimaru and Anko. Realistically, he knew he couldn't fight the last two at once by himself anyways. He'd just have to show patience, for now. Coming to peace with that fact, he cast his eyes below where his students were approaching the proctor now, and crossed his arms.

Tokuro's glare no longer focused on her, Kin shoved her mixed feelings into the back of her mind. She couldn't afford to become weak right now; if she thought about her former sensei too much she'd be too angry to fight without making mistakes. Mistakes would cost her the match in this case, as she knew her and Ino were not given the most favorable of matchups.

Ino and Kin started down the stairway, and the blonde kunoichi kept her eyes trained on her partner examining her mentality. Being a Yamanaka, it was not difficult for her to spot anxiety on her face, no matter how well it was being hidden. _Putting on a brave face huh?_ She reached out telepathically.

Kin grunted in surprise, coming to a halt halfway down the steps. Seeing the confusion she interrupted her question with her mind. _Don't stop walking._ Ino commanded. _I've been learning telepathy, it's a clan thing._ She rushed an explanation. Unlike their disastrous mission encountering the Akatsuki in which she barely stayed conscious to deliver that short message to the Hokage… Ino could easily communicate in silence with people at a very close range. The more familiar with the person she was, the easier it was and the less strain involved.

' _Can you hear me?'_ Kin tried, just thinking.

 _'_ _Yes, try not to give anything away with your expressions. They don't have to know what we're doing.'_ Ino advised.

 _'_ _Covert… I like it.'_ Kin agreed. ' _To answer your question… Of course I'm a little anxious they're my teammates. Well, they were I should say. And don't get me started on Tokuro-sensei!'_

The two of them came to a stop, meeting their opponents and Asuma who currently stood between. Both of them locked their eyes with Kin's with mixed emotions. ' _Remember, don't give away that we're having a conversation…'_ Ino reminded, and glanced to see no outward reaction before continuing, satisfied. ' _What should I expect?'_

 _'_ _You're a rookie, if I know my teammates they'll target you primarily to start out.'_ Kin answered.

Ino mentally huffed irritably. ' _Wonderful._ _What are they? Weapons specialists? Taijutsu?'_

 _'_ _Ninjutsu, more specifically Wind and Fire combo attacks.'_

The Yamanaka did not like the sound of that but refrained from breaking her own rule and showing any reaction. _So I'm guessing you're not much for Ninjutsu? It would be strange to have a team with three Ninjutsu specialists that are only Genin._

 _I'm a senbon user that increases their effectiveness with Genjutsu. But that's useless since they know me too well._ Kin warned. _I won't be able to beat them with it… and my Ninjutsu isn't in their league. We should try to separate them to stop the combo jutsus but that's only a viable option if you think you can take one of them by yourself. I have my doubts that they'll fall into my traps._

 _So separate them, get one and regroup?_ Ino thought. _I can get one of them in one shot with my clan's jutsu if they don't realize what I'm doing. You'd just have to last in the meantime._

"Are both teams ready?" Asuma requested.

 _We can try… But it won't be that easy. These two know their strength lies in complementing each other's element. It's what they've developed the most these last two years as teammates. I'm supposed to be their ranged support._

"Yeah," Ino answered the ANBU.

' _Okay, but until we can think of anything better, let's go with that; I'll keep this mental link open. '_

Tokuro's Genin both gave the proctor a nod and Asuma looked to Kin, who had yet to acknowledge him. ' _All right… Be careful.'_

"Let's get this over with," Kin finally spoke aloud, her eyes focused on her ex-teammates.

"Good… then begin!"

As Kin prophesized, Tokuro's Genin had predetermined their target prior to the start of the fight. One hurled shuriken at her as a distraction and turned his gaze to Kin, ready to defend his teammate from a possible assault form her while the other began running through handsigns immediately. The Tsuchi had senbon drawn but was making no attempt at using them or her Genjutsu. After watching her Yamanaka partner easily avoid the initial attack and seeing their second opponent preparing a jutsu she had a pretty good idea what their plan was.

 _'_ _Ino, I want you to use me for a substitution when he launches his jutsu.'_ Kin strategized, discreetly hiding a storage scroll behind her back from either of her ex-teammates' prying eyes.

 _'_ _What!?'_

 _'_ _No time to explain, just trust me I know them well.'_

 _'_ _If you're sure…'_ The Yamanaka heir conceded warily.

A dragon shaped fire jutsu rocketed towards the rookie Genin who did as her partner requested, substituting bodies. Unsealing the scroll, an abundance of water was dumped in the air and she made three _very_ quick handseals, performing a defensive water jutsu of which formed a protective cocoon around her. Though the dragon was made of fire, which was naturally weak against water… it easily outranked it and so Kin wasn't at all surprised when the flames seeped through it and gave her some burns. Fortunately, her jutsu crippled its effectiveness otherwise she'd be in a lot more pain right now.

 _'_ _So glad I brought those scrolls… Without the Hydra Swaddle jutsu I wouldn't have had a way to help you out.'_

 _'_ _Thanks,' The_ Yamanaka responded gratefully.

Kin gave her a nod. ' _No problem.'_

"Hey that was crafty…" Kiba commended.

"For sure," Naruto agreed. "She must know her old team's moves real well, huh?"

"Don't forget that she was with them a whole lot longer than we've been. Imagine Naru-Shika-zuka about a year and half from now," The Nara contemplated.

The fire user grunted but smirked nonetheless. He didn't expect Kin's teammate to actually _substitute_ her into harm's way for self preservation, but he wasn't surprised his ex teammate used one of her water scrolls to waste his chakra like that. "Man, I thought I had a one shot takedown."

The wind user that played decoy a moment ago just gaped at Ino like she was an evil bitch. "You… substituted your teammate to not take a hit yourself!" He accused. "That's low; I don't care who you are. I guess that flocking around Anko and her Genin rubs off huh?"

Ino scoffed, she did no such thing. Well, she did… upon her teammate's request/order and obviously Kin had a plan so she complied. They didn't know that, and she wouldn't dispute it because it would mean giving up the fact her and Kin could communicate telepathically. Handing that information out on a platter would be unwise, so she'd just have to deal with it. Taking a random, unwarranted shot on Anko and her friends (sort of… it was a work in progress with Kiba and Naruto) just pissed her off.

"What's your deal with them? You don't even know them!" She frowned.

"We know what we need to know," The fire user declared, uncaring.

 _'_ _Uh has your ex-sensei been like brainwashing you guys or something?'_

 _'_ _No, not exactly… They just respect him and inherited his grudges. Learning under a sensei for two years has an attaching effect you might say.'_

 _'_ _Whatever, I hope that doesn't go for everyone. As far as I know Kakashi-sensei doesn't have a grudge with anyone. And I don't think I could stand myself if I inherited sensei's porn habit or something.'_

It took all of Kin's focus not to reveal her amusement on the outside, and she even stifled her laughter to the best of her ability in the link because she feared if she let it go she wouldn't be able to hide it.

"You only have two more of those scrolls, and water is the only element you use," The fire user pointed out. "I may not have got a K.O. but at least I wasted one of your only chances to use your Ninjutsu right off the bat."

The wind user smiled, momentarily getting past his disgust with Ino's actions. "Yeah that was a good use of chakra after all." He commented off handedly.

They were right and Kin knew it, Ninjutsu wasn't her game, and like they said she only had two scrolls of stashed water left. Damn them for being aware of her limits. Tokuro's Genin smirked at each other, having an understanding pass between them wordlessly and went on the offensive again.

The wind user ran towards Ino, making handsigns in the process. _'At least we don't have to separate them now' Ino_ commented.

 _'_ _After they both finish their attacks they'll regroup. Escape the jutsu, and attack my opponent after. I'll get yours, and WE regroup in between them.'_ Kin strategized.

Recognizing the pattern of handseals her ex-teammate was making, Kin yanked a senbon out of its pouch and threw it. _Oh no you don't.._ The fire user winced when the needle struck one of his hands, making a brief split of concentration in his chakra infusion and forcing a mistake in his final handsign. He was not perturbed by the slight lapse of focus however and let his A-rank jutsu rip; knowing Kin didn't possess any water jutsu strong enough to stop it. "Fire style: Blazing Acheron!" He shouted while dropping to his knees and releasing the fire from his mouth.

The attack could best be described as a stream of flames moving towards their intended target rapidly like a flowing river with a strong current. As Kin had hoped, her senbon dealt harm to the power and speed of his jutsu but it was probably still a B-rank. She dodged the path of flames and held her hand out with three senbon into the inferno.

"Damn it," The opposing shinobi grunted at the effectiveness of his jutsu being off and tossed the stupid senbon away after painfully yanking it out of his hand.

Genma smirked from the upper level; this young senbon user was officially interesting to him. "What's she doing…?" Choji queried, eyes fixated on Kin just reaching into the flames with the projectile needles.

"You'll see…" Was all his sensei felt like divulging, and so the Akimichi just continued to look on and pulled out a new bag of barbequed chips absentmindedly.

Ino's face indicated pain as she slipped away from a midrange wind jutsu but not without receiving a small in length but deep like a ravine in her skin along her elbow, gushing with blood. _So this is what it felt like to be Sasuke last mission? I've got to hand it to him for not showing how bad it felt._ She thought, remembering the tons of cuts her teammate received at the hands of Kakuzu's Wind Construct while he and Naruto were pinning it down for her Mind Transfer jutsu.

Seeing Ino's focus divide as she examined the damage of his jutsu, the wind user launched a barrage of shuriken only for Ino to duck and respond with the fling of two kunai striking him in the chest. Only for him to transform back into a log revealing to be a substitution. _'Kin, he's on the move.'_

 _'_ _I got it'_ She replied, trying to intercept the wind user. Problem was, the fire user was also trying to regroup, so he saw it prudent to throw kunai at her, forcing her to slide so they sail over her. ' _Ino, hurry up or this isn't going to work.'_

Still holding the same three senbon in her left hand, she reached into pouch with the other and pull a new cluster of projectiles out to intercept the next kunai attack from the fire user. Accustomed to seeing Kin use senbon in threes as opposed to fours, he didn't even notice the fourth senbon fly right between the knives that were deflected until it stuck itself in his chest painfully making him growl.

Before he could think about a counterattack directed at Kin, a new problem presented itself as a purple clad kunoichi was closing in on him fast. Kin raised the senbon she'd been holding for the duration of this chase and timed the throw perfectly, waiting for Ino's figure to block the wind user's vision and hurled them in his direction violently. Ino could _feel_ the breeze of Kin's senbon passing behind her neck which made her smirk as she slammed into the fire user, knocking him back.

Naturally, he didn't go far, Ino didn't weigh all that much and he regained his balance quickly. The wind user who'd been preparing a jutsu to fire at Ino's back wasn't so lucky. Kin's senbon buried into him forcing him to scream in agony. "What the hell!" He shouted, desperately removing the needles and breathing heavily, the damn things burned!

"Sorry," She told him in an amused voice. "I may have heated those up for a minute holding them in the aftermath of his Blazing Acheron."

"They hurt like a bitch…" He grumbled.

"I'll take it under advisement that I need to find a way to do that for missions…" She chuckled.

A gleam jumped out of Sakura's eyes for the first time since the end of her fight as she watched Ino make a slick move to get behind her foe. _You've got him right where you want him! CHA!_ Inner-Sakura cheered.

"Checkmate," Shikamaru smirked.

The fire user's fist impacted with what turned out to be a clone, a mere simple academy clone. Confused by the move he quickly looked around for a sign of the kunoichi before she could get the drop on him.

Kankuro raised a makeup engrossed eyebrow. "What the hell is she doing?" He wondered. Orochimaru chuckled audibly.

 _What the hell?_ The fire user panicked. _Where'd that little— Suddenly_ he realized where he hadn't looked and tilted his neck upwards catching the sight of a pretty blonde hanging off the ceiling like a damn bat. That's when a realization hit him with a brick… _Yamanaka._ Her hands were where she needed them to be and he could tell she was ready to hit him with her jutsu.

 _Mind Transfer jutsu!_ Ino thought, her feet coated with chakra to keep attached to the roof and her target within the sights of her Yamanaka handseal.

So he did the only thing he could think to do at the time, dive the hell out of the way and hope she misses. The fire user's body made a painful grunt as his face forcefully rubbed up against the tile in haste. Ino's body, without a spirit to commandeer it, dropped to the floor, landing harshly on her back.

Everyone in the upper level who's eyes had been focused on their part of the battle just stared on with uncertainty. "Did it work…? Did she get him?" Kiba spoke up, glancing at Anko and then his Genin teammates.

"You expect us to know? What am I some kind of spirit sensor?" Anko chided.

The fire user's body stood up and dusted itself off, sighing with relief. Though it was unclear whether it was the body's owner displaying relief, or a foreign controller. Unclear to most that is…

Sakura gripped the rail as tight as her muscles could handle. _Damn it._ "That's not Ino!" She informed them, in a very frustrated voice. Not only had she lost to Sasuke… But it would appear her best friend just misfired on her trump card and would also lose, making Sasuke the only representative of Team Seven in the finals.

"But how can you tell?" Naruto asked with mild hesitation, still wary of how Sakura might feel about him at the moment.

Asuma was just as confused as the spectators in the upper level, and chose to refrain from calling anyone eliminated for the moment.

The fire user's body ran towards where Kin and the wind user were engaged in Taijutsu and rammed right into the kunoichi with a kick into her blindside sending her reeling. Quickly returning to her feet, Kin attempted to contact her partner. _'Ino?'_ She sought out with the link but felt nothing. The three apprentices of Tokuro Hyuga stared one another down.

"Damn… Guess she was right," Kiba murmured.

"Ino would've surrendered to the proctor while inside the other person's body, it was a strategy she told me she would use in the finals back when we were preparing for the exams," Sakura revealed. "So when he got up and didn't do that…I knew it wasn't Ino."

 _I'm screwed…_ Kin thought miserably, pulling out the two other water scrolls.

 _This match is over._ Tokuro decided, and was quite pleased with the result.

Sasuke looked at the unconscious form of his other teammate with pity and placed his hands comfortably in his pockets. "Tch. The only thing you're good at, and you missed."

The two Genin loyal to their sensei weaved through handsigns together, intending the throw a combo jutsu at their ex-teammate who just released the water from both of her final scrolls. She knew this probably wasn't going to work but she didn't feel like surrendering. Why? Because her teammates, like her, were taught by Tokuro… And while she was still very much confused about what happened the day prior… She was _pissed_ at her former sensei and felt like surrendering to these two was the Chunin exam equivalent of surrendering to him.

A powerful gust of wind swirled around the next fiery dragon and directly clashed with a second dragon made of water. This was the only jutsu Kin required more than one scroll for, and she rarely used it, but this was out of desperation. She had no other cards to call on!

The combined strength of the two jutsus easily overpowered her own… She grit her teeth as the heat pressed through and pushed her back into the wall, wind cutting into her form all along her body and letting out a pained shriek as she felt her body temperature soar through the roof, a burning sensation coursing throughout her skin.

After the smoke cleared, Kin's slumped form against the wall was revealed, clothes ruined, and covered in a combination of cuts burns and blood panting slightly from the adrenaline rush she was enduring from the sheer agony. Asuma appeared in between her and the two rival Genin. "It's still up to you… But I don't think you're able to continue."

"No," Kin agreed. "I resign…"

 ** _A/N:_** **Well there we have it. Horrid lack of Tenten there, sorry but c'mon lol her partner was ITACHI… Not that she knew it but hey whatever lol No way was I gonna waste both my time and yours on a couple of Waterfall Genin trying to take on the guy who was ANBU captain at age 13, just screw that.**

 **Kin and Ino both done :( I thought about letting one through and one not but I came to these conclusions:**

 **1) If one goes down, the other will be owned 2v1.**

 **2)These are the two people who Kin had no shot at using her Genjutsu-senbon tricks on.**

 **3) Ino is still weak like Sakura is.**

 **4) Tokuro's Genin duo are 2 years ahead like Kin, so my confidence in the likes of Ino in this fight at this point of time just isn't good.**

 **That said, I didn't have circles ran around them, it simply turned out to be an unfortunate matchup and they lost. At least they didn't lose in 4 seconds like the Waterfall team, XD**

 **Now… Those of you who are sitting there thinking 'why in the fuck would he have 2 of the more important secondary characters get beat my unnamed opponents?' Understand that Tokuro's Genin do not make an appearance after the prelims (Can't divulge why but you'll see soon enough) and it was convenient enough to just say wind user and fire user.**

 **On the flip side, you might recall in the "Clash with the Mist" chapter I named Suigetsu's teammates but there's a chance they actually reappear someday. If I ever use Suigetsu again for anything, expect them to be with him.**

 **Shikamaru and Kiba get their spotlight next chap**

* * *

 **OMAKE: Vindictive Measures! Protection of Anko-sensei's honor!**

 **(Takes place 3 days after preliminaries)**

 **Skip it or read it w/e up to you :)**

"Watch where you're going you stupid slut."

"Excuse me!?" Ino snapped at the rude stranger that didn't dignify her retort with any sort of acknowledgment, walking towards another table on the other side of the café.

It took the combined effort of Naruto, Kiba, Kin and Shikamaru to hold the fuming Yamanaka back for at least thirty seconds before she calmed down and followed their waitress to a table.

As they walked, Naruto slowed his pace down to be at the Nara's side. "Why in the hell didn't you use your shadow? And don't tell me it was too much work to make a handseal cause it would've been way easier than holding her back!" Shikamaru failed to hold back a mild blush. The blonde had a point after all, why didn't he?

Kiba snorted at their whispering with his Inuzuka enhanced hearing. "It was more work Naruto but it was also the more _fun_ way for Shikamaru… If you catch my drift."

Apparently Ino heard this and sent him a glare that rivaled one of Anko's, which honestly scared him shitless. Watching Kiba's insolence get decimated wiped the blush off Shika's face and he replaced it with a smirk knowing they wouldn't be dumb enough to make any of those troublesome jokes for awhile.

"You know, I can't help but think I've seen that jerk before," Kin voiced.

"Yeah? You too huh…" Naruto agreed. "It's weird cause he certainly doesn't look like a shinobi… Hey, maybe I pranked him before!" He figured, hoping it was the case.

"Well he deserved it if you did…" Ino grumbled.

The waitress returned with a notepad and the group of Genin gave their orders and socialized for a few minutes about the upcoming finals and to a lesser extent training. There was a limit to what they could talk about there, considering some had exam finals to partake in. Eventually the waitress deposited their requested drinks on the table and the group sorted out who's was who's before enjoying.

"What the hell is a Lemon Mazagran anyway?" Ino questioned, taking a sip of her orange soda.

"Some kind of iced coffee I don't even know exactly but—"Kin was interrupted as Naruto leapt out of his chair suddenly looking distraught.

"It's _that_ bastard," Naruto finally recalled.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow; both Kiba and Ino silently awaited elaboration. "Who, Naruto?" Kin spoke up; interested in the answer since she thought he was familiar too.

Naruto snapped his head around and grinned devilishly. "I think we need to work on our _stealth training_ and prank the hell out of this guy!" He stated. "It's Anko-sensei's sleazy ex!"

"The guy that cheated on her in her own house?" Shikamaru remembered and Kiba laughed hysterically, nearly spilling his drink over.

"I forgot about that! I still can't believe Anko-sensei didn't castrate him on the spot!"

Ino chastised him for his muses. "Shut up Kiba! There's nothing funny about infidelity!" Kin nodded in agreement.

"In Kiba's defense…" Naruto interjected. "If I wasn't in a stunned silence when Anko-sensei and I walked in to see him and three naked women I probably would've laughed at what an idiot he is too…"

"Nope!" Kiba interrupted. "Don't insult the idiots; there are lots of them in the world. This dumbass is beyond help! I mean come on… cheating on _Anko!?"_

Shikamaru let out a long sigh and sipped on his tea, enjoying the overwhelming flavor of cinnamon. "I've never indulged in any of your pranking escapades, mostly because it's a lot more trouble than it's worth… But I think I can make an exception for this guy. What do you have in mind Naruto?"

"I'm not sure yet, I like to come up with something special for people who really have it coming," He smirked.

Kiba laughed again. "Well you can definitely count me in! It'll be interesting to see what we can pull off when Naruto and I actually work together!"

In the academy days, Naruto and Kiba used to partake in pranking wars, repeatedly outdoing one another to prove who the best was. They always had a minor hanging rivalry as kids because both wanted to become Hokage, both like the more humorous aspects of life and neither had respect for each other as ninja-to-be at the time.

They _did_ respect each other's pranking talents though, and sometimes when they got bored with pranking each other they would have pranking contests where they targeted other people and tried to see who could best the other. It was because of this that Naruto vandalized the Hokage monument and needless to say Kiba never found a way to top that… and cut his losses on the contest. After becoming Genin it seemed like a foolish waste of time to act like children and continue their old games and focused on their new careers, team and friendships.

"We've got Shika's brains too…" Ino added. "I almost feel bad for this guy."

" _Almost,"_ Kin agreed.

"The girls are in? Didn't see that coming," Naruto commented.

Kin crossed her arms and smirked at him. "Well someone has to represent the females on Anko's behalf. We find guys like this disgusting."

Ino's temper flared up again. "He called me a slut for no reason! He can count himself lucky if I don't take a kunai to his balls and put them in Akamaru's dog dish!" All three males gulped, and Akamaru made himself scarce. _She might be hanging out with Sakura a little too much, seriously._

 _And that's your 'troublesome woman' Shikamaru!_ Kiba couldn't help but shout in his head.

The group of shinobi ceased their conversation as their newly appointed target walked out the door with two pretty, lightly clothed females in tow with bubbly smiles on their faces.

Naruto created a pair of shadow clones after they made their exit. "You two follow him around until you know where he lives. We've got some planning to do."

Kiba grinned as the clones left. _We're gonna make this guy wish he fled the village!_

* * *

The next morning, hell was paid.

The poor bastard that unknowingly put himself in the crosshairs of five Leaf shinobi got out of bed and stretched. He had a feeling today would be a nice day. Looking at the pair of naked women leftover in his bed he cringed as a shiver went down his spine. _What the fuck happened to them?_ He thought, forcing his eyes to look away at the site. His lovely blondes appeared to have put on a hundred pounds each _overnight!_ And they did not gain the weight gracefully.

Trying to unsee the developments the man retrieved some underwear and pants from a drawer absentmindedly and put them on, beginning to prepare for the day when he felt something _move_ across his ass. "Fuck!" Freaking out he practically ripped the pants off and stumbled to the ground face first trying to get the boxers off. After accomplishing this feat, he rolled away and got on his knees, seeing a couple garter snakes slither out of the undergarment, an eye twitching.

He returned to the dresser and got more clothes, this time thoroughly looking not only through them but the drawers themselves to avoid future surprises before bringing his attention to the snakes. He easily bent on and snatched one of them up before opening a window with his other hand and dismissing it outside. He turned around just in time to see the second garter snake take refuge in the heating vent. A vein stuck out on his forehead as this start to his morning was just getting ridiculous.

Rushing over to the vent and pulling it out of the floor he reached his hand in to grab the snake but it was too fast! It slithered out of his reach and that seriously pissed him off. How in the fuck was he going to get it out? Frowning, he replaced the vent and ventured elsewhere in his house.

Unbeknownst to him, the snake dispelled.

He found the thermostat and cranked the heat up as high as he could. Sure it would be unbearably hot later, but he could always air the house out. He knew barely anything about snakes, and had no real clue how it would respond to the temperature but he was sure that having hot air blowing through the ventilation ducts would annoy the crap out of it until it found its way out. Then he could just toss it out like the other one… Returning to his bedroom, he stared at the vent for ten minutes expectantly and sighed. He was wasting his time; he couldn't afford to be late for work just because of this stupid reptile.

Putting the nuisance out of his mind for now, he went in the bathroom to take a leak, brush his teeth, shave, and whatnot, the usual morning routine. Instead, he found himself gaping at pyramid stack of empty toilet paper rolls; looking to the toilet to the side of them he cursed as apparently someone actually emptied over twenty rolls just to clog his toilet up and had the audacity to mock him with the pyramid. _What kind of asshole is this dedicated?_ He thought and angrily kicked the pyramid, scattering the empty rolls across the room and deciding he would have to settle for pissing in the drain located in his shower to save on time.

After successfully brushing his teeth, he returned to the bedroom. Opening his closet to retrieve a shirt, he screamed fearfully as a snake three times the size of him was revealed and when he tried to slam the door on it, it slipped its head through the crack and slithered out. His girlish squeal woke the sleeping beauties who joined him in the screaming and did so until the snake randomly disappeared in a poof of smoke, having done its job.

To his horror, the blondes were now _two_ -hundred pounds heavier than the previous night. He'd heard of ninja using illusions and summoning massive animals before, so he figured that was the only explanation but he wanted to know just who the fuck was screwing with him!?

He left the two frightened women that weren't getting any closer to their usual size so he wanted nothing to do with them and headed for the kitchen. He seethed when he saw his dining table. Whoever he pissed off went to the trouble of finding his large stash of condoms and stabbing through each and every one of them individually with a kunai, which was left sticking into his table which had at least sixty chips on the surface from each condom that was stabbed through. "Bastard…" He grumbled. "That's taking it too far."

Passing by the table he tried to keep his anger at bay and approached the fridge intent on having some breakfast. Purple smoke was unleashed as he yanked the door open and his hands gripped tight as spandex as he just stood there and gawked. _Is it poisonous? Or am I supposed to THINK it's poisonous?_ He wondered. _Guess it would be pretty fucking stupid to eat something and find out._

Then he saw the note left attached to the milk. He snatched it and after reading it ripped it into miniature pieces. "FFFUCCCK!"

The note had said: _'We took the liberty of donating your couch to the orphanage in your name, pretending it was a D-rank mission to deliver it. They were quite enthused by your generosity. We send you their thanks!'_

His destination has changed… Fuck work, he was going to see the Hokage and have a mission assigned to find who did this and have the cocksuckers punished accordingly!

* * *

"Look! He's here!" Naruto shouted for the crowd of angry armed women they spent the morning gathering throughout the village, pointing at their 'target,' as he came within view of the Hokage tower. The women needed no further invitation, screaming curses and moving towards the man in question to _enlighten_ him on how women were more than sex objects.

To be fair, this crowd had been deceived into thinking that man was the author for the Icha Icha series. But hey, this guy needed to be enlightened nonetheless, right? The confused man tried to turn and hightail it but found himself frozen in place, not noticing his shadow being connected to another's not far to the side. After some struggling, he managed to move… but not how he intended.

Instead of turning around and running for dear life as the stampede of women were charging in his direction he slowly took a few steps backwards and bumped into someone else, and suddenly froze in place again.

"Watch where you're going, you stupid slut," The person snapped, with a devious smirk.

"Y-You!?" He spat frantically, recognizing the purple clad teen. _All this because I said that yesterday? God damn kunoichi_

She disappeared from sight and the crowd proceeded to pummel him endlessly.

* * *

Later that night, Anko was dying of laughter after being told the whole story over dinner with the five of them along with Sakura who wasn't fairing much better than the Jonin. "It was glorious!" Kiba bragged.

"Kiba and I did a lot of the in-house stuff, but the best part of all this is that every one of us had a great contribution into one combined operation," Naruto pointed out. "The Genjutsu to make the girls fat was my idea, but I couldn't do it because I suck at Genjutsu so Kin took care of it. It was Ino who wanted came up with using Icha Icha to rally a bunch of women to beat him up, which is why Shikamaru told the rest of us to do so much damage to make him run to the Hokage tower to set up the ambush."

"Shikamaru honestly did nothing but that little shadow possession but I admit it was awesome."

"Who gave the couch away?" Sakura giggled. "I'm willing to bet a lot of perverted things have been done on that sofa."

"Me," Kin deadpanned. "When you put it that way I feel bad for donating it to those poor kids."

"Whichever one of you stabbed through all of his condoms made me laugh so fucking hard that I'm going to teach you a jutsu!"

Suddenly there was a huge dispute over who fulfilled that role, and who didn't.

 ** _A/N:_** **Lol… That omake was inspired by an incredibly funny pranking scene done by another author. If memory serves correct it was in Kenchi618's 'The Sealed Kunai' but I didn't copy him in any way. That said, prob never would've wrote that if I hadn't laughed my ass off reading his and finding the motivation to do one of my own.**


	25. Beauty and the Beast

**Chapter 25: Beauty and the Beast**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hey hey, only two fights remain which means Shikamaru/Kiba time! Final preliminary chapter actually :)**

 **After this chapter… I will be spending some time on just character/training developments. As yall know I have had a tendency to stay the hell away from training stuff. A big part of that is due to how the pre-Chunin exam chapters were a faster pace than the rest of the story is intended to be along with the fact I dislike writing training for some reason. But like I mentioned before, Chunin exam and onward is a more comfortable pace and the characters shall be developed much better than in the past where I've been too busy juggling a number of things.**

 **Also… Ch.1-17 approx Over 90k words 18-25 over 60k 2/3 as many words in 8 chapters lol**

 **Yeah… pretty big difference there eh? My current goal is to keep writing like this for as long as I can for you guys and for myself… I'm having fun and I feel like these lengthy chapters (in comparison to before anyway) make for a much better story. Thanks for your continued support!**

 **Enjoy**

"Well done," Tokuro offered his pupils.

His two students smiled in gratitude. "Thanks sensei."

"Man, having to blast Kin with that really sucked though."

The other Genin patted his partner on the back. "She won't hold it against ya… I hope."

The first rolled his eyes. "How very reassuring."

Tokuro put their conversation on mute and let his eyes linger to Anko's remaining two Genin. _Only two matches left; I suppose we'll see if your other two are worth something. I didn't think her team had a chance of getting this far. And to think that the Ninetails will be in the finals._ The Hyuga mused. _Then again, who's to say the finals won't be cancelled?_ He had as an afterthought upon glancing at Orochimaru.

"Someone, help me set her down!"

"More work…" Shikamaru complained, coming to the pinkette's aid. "And my fight hasn't even started yet!"

Sakura shot the Nara a deadpan look but snapped out of it as he locked his arms under the unconscious Ino's shoulders and eased the weight away from her before gently resting the blonde against the wall next to Naruto who was content with sitting while the numbing poison was still tampering with him. As Shika slipped his hands back into his pockets and eased into his slouch he caught the look in Naruto's eyes and grunted. "What?"

"Oh nothing…" Naruto feigned innocence. "Just taking note of how _gentle_ and helpful you are with Ino. I'm sure she'll appreciate what a _sweet_ caretaker you are.

Shikamaru sighed. "I know Ino would probably do this if she could since Kiba's been driving her nuts about it lately so I guess I'll just do it for her this once…"

*SMACK*

"Ha, the jokes on you Shikamaru! I still can't feel anything!" Naruto cackled.

"Troublesome teammate…"

"Just admit it!" Naruto pointed at him accusingly. "Kiba and I are totally right. You've been caught red handed."

Shika raised an eyebrow. "What did I do, exactly?"

"You VOLUNTEERED to do something you called work! Duh! Tell me you'd do that for someone else!"

Anko busted up laughing. "Naruto's got a point you know."

Shikamaru's eye twitched as he considered the point but didn't stand down. "Woah hold on, I would too do something like that for other people."

Kiba snorted. "Such as?"

"You, Naruto, sensei…" He responded shooting a glance at the Inuzuka.

"We're your teammates…" Naruto deadpanned. "We don't count."

Shikamaru groaned. "You guys can be such a drag, you know that?" He sniped.

"Yeah yeah we know," Kiba waved off. "Just make sure she's okay so you're focused on our fight," he taunted, drawing laughter from Naruto. "We could be next you know." Shikamaru didn't bother to retort and simply pinched the bridge of his nose mumbling something.

Naruto's chuckles were silenced and he momentarily forgot to breathe, looking at his left shoulder scared for his life. Ino, for some reason or another, fell onto him. Her head was now resting on his shoulder and if someone were to walk in the room at that moment they would easily mistake it for cuddling. "Um, a little help?" He requested.

Shikamaru smirked. "Nah… I'm sorry Naruto but my fight could be next so I have to get ready…" He refused sarcastically.

"Oi, if she wakes up like this she'll kill me!"

"What a shame…" Was all the Nara said in return grinning away at the predicament and he turned his back the Uzumaki and walked over to the rail and stood by Anko.

A vein appeared on Naruto's head. "That's _not_ funny! She's seriously gonna kill me! I'd move her off myself but my muscle control is all screwed up and I might knock her over and crack her head open or something." Shikamaru and Anko began conversing about something completely ignoring him.

"…"

"Kiba?" He solicited hopefully.

The Inuzuka merely shrugged. "You're all numbed up remember? She could dropkick you from the roof and it wouldn't matter considering you wouldn't feel it and your special healing… prowess."

"So you're not going to help me?" Kiba shook his head in return. "Bastard."

"I'll help you, Naruto," Sasuke offered, suddenly present among Team Six and his fellow Team Seven members.

"Re-Really?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"No," Sasuke smirked and walked by, apparently on his way to the restroom.

"You're a bastard too!" He shouted at his rival's back.

"Aw damn it… I guess we're last then," Kiba complained impatiently, reading the names on the screen and recognizing none of them.

Shikamaru yawned. "Who cares? Fight now, fight later, whatever."

"Can't you show some enthusiasm?" Anko grunted, knowing better than to bother saying that.

"Sensei… I _am_ showing enthusiasm."

"Not really."

"Okay fine… I'm awake though."

Anko sweatdropped. "Is that supposed to count for something?"

"Kin!" Naruto exclaimed, grateful she was back with the predicament he was in. "I thought they took you for medical treatment?"

Kin shook her head. "They took a quick look at me and said nothing was serious and asked if I wanted to stay and watch the rest of the fighting or go get patched up. Then that Hinata girl was kind enough to offer me some healing ointment so I was over there," She pointed to Genma's team.

Then she giggled. "So…" and smirked down at him, "…you work fast,"

"What?" He stated, confused. "Oh! No this is not what it looks like! She fell onto my shoulder and Shikamaru and Kiba are being douche bags!"

Kin clenched her ribs where one of the deeper wind chakra cuts was in her laughter but bent down to one knee and adjusted Ino's position for him. "Thanks…" He offered, somewhat embarrassed.

She shot him a smile. "No problem…" She assured, still chuckling and went to join the others against the rail.

"What's happening?" She inquired.

"Two Snow Genin are fighting their third teammate and the last Waterfall guy," Sakura supplied.

* * *

"Hiruzen," Danzo broke the silence between the three of them for the first time since Neji and Lee's match against the sand siblings.

"Yes, old friend?" Sarutobi replied, keeping his eyes on the ongoing match and exhaling smoke.

Through his peripheral, the Hokage could see the councilman's lone eye bore into him coldly. "Since you have chosen to _not_ heed my advice in ending these exams, I insist you allow me to interrogate this supposed Baki."

The Hokage's face hardened slightly as he turned ever slightly to return Danzo's stare. "You know that I cannot do that. Baki is entrusted with being the sensei of the Kazekage's own blood. I would be exercising poor judgment if I were to do something foolish as that. I require more proof that he is indeed Orochimaru than Tokuro's hunch." Hiashi pretended to be oblivious to the conversation, keeping his attention seemingly latched onto the match.

"Hiruzen! Don't be a fool!"

"You might want to reconsider your tone," Hiashi spoke freely. "He's the Third Hokage, not you, Danzo."

Danzo scowled. "Hiashi, until you are privy to the current happenings within the gates of our village… I would stay out of it."

"What are you implying?" The Hyuga clan head responded unfazed and still with his eyes on the battle. "I am aware of our current… situation," He revealed.

Danzo turned to glare at Hiruzen. "He's involved?"

"Are you questioning the steps I've made to deal with Orochimaru?" Sarutobi returned. "Hiashi has discreetly worked with my ANBU on the matter as we do not have any Hyuga clan members in our roster, if you must know," Hiruzen sold.

"Then why did the two of you see it fit to pretend he was unaware?"

Hiashi answered him. "Because I valued discretion above glory. I am a retired shinobi, and a very busy clan head with numerous responsibilities. It would please me if my involvement in capturing Orochimaru remained unknown to most."

"Fair enough," Danzo conceded. "And you actually _agree_ with Hiruzen?"

"It doesn't matter if I agree," Hiashi replied stoically, looking at Danzo finally. "I know my place."

 _I understand what you're trying to do Hiashi. But your comments will not deter him and leave things in my hands. Not in regards to Orochimaru._ Sarutobi thought. _Knowing the truth, you thought it would be wise to influence faith in actions to dull the shock when we inevitably have to reveal to the village Orochimaru's true intentions. Danzo holds a grudge with my former student… And see's him as possibly the biggest threat to our village currently. Nothing will convince him to back off._

* * *

"Well, we've finally reached the last match. Those of you who haven't fought yet come down!" Asuma barked, he was getting a little tired of this. The last three matches hadn't entertained him in the slightest. Although, it was a little unfair to count the one in which the Waterfall Genin lost in four seconds as a match. Officially, it was though.

Kiba smirked at Shikamaru who nodded his head, it was time.

"All right kids… listen up," Anko gathered their attention quietly. "As I'm sure you already realized you're fighting the timid Hyuga girl and Shika's Akimichi friend. Kiba, normally up close and personal is your best bet, but with these two as your opponents you'll have to be cautious. Unlike Naruto, your opponents know what to expect from you guys. Use it against them."

"You got it sensei," Kiba agreed.

"Like Naruto… I believe in you twerps, so you better not lose it reflects badly on my teachings! Going one for three is unacceptable," She paused to smirk. "And I promise to make things… _unpleasant_ for everyone but Naruto if you both lose."

Kin rolled her eyes. "Whatever… Just go down there and show them what ya got. By the way Anko it would be one for four with me on your squad now."

Anko's eyes widened momentarily. "Shit, go down there and whoop their asses!"

Shikamaru sighed. _Women…_ As he and Kiba began their trek down the steps.

A grin came across Naruto's face that made him look wired on caffeine. "Poor Choji and Hinata…" He said almost sympathetically and forced himself up to join Anko and Kin against the rail.

 _Just our luck…_ Genma inwardly grumbled. His team _would_ get stuck fighting all three of Anko's team. Shino had been narrowly beaten by Naruto without the aid of Sakura and now his other two pupils were going to square off against Anko's remaining two. There was a lot of hype surrounding Team Six as of late, due to their misfortune of coming across the likes of Inoanji Yamanaka, Kakuzu and Kisame Hoshigaki all within the early months of being rookie Genin. Misfortunate or not, they were all still alive which was impressive in its own right. Gai's Team Nine and Kakashi's Team Seven were also present for that second one, and Team Nine had already been hyped a good deal prior. Seven on the other hand, had so much baggage it was considered a stroke of luck combined with the teams they were accompanied by.

Team One, hadn't had any crazy A-rank endeavors and Genma was thankful for that, but it did make him a little uneasy about pitting Hinata and Choji against Shikamaru and Kiba. It didn't help that in the exams he knew they would advance passed the first stage since it was information gathering. Hinata and Shino were perfect for that and Shino passed a message along to Choji for him. In the second stage, they took advantage of Shino's tracking abilities and got both the key and flag through a beautiful strategy and element of surprise finishing that stage before anyone else.

One could make a legitimate argument that luck played a fine role in their advancement through the first two stages as so far they haven't been pushed in any way. Their skill sets dulled the tests, but now their luck had run out. Shino lost presumably because of the Kyuubi's presence which ruined his paralytic poison.

Now Shino's teammates were faced with the challenge of taking Naruto's teammates. Were Kiba and Shikamaru stronger than Naruto? Genma personally doubted they could be much better; he'd seen firsthand how hard Naruto was willing to work when he devoted some time to training some of his own skills. Whatever the case, he had a feeling they were not going to be pushovers like the two Snow shinobi that just advanced from the previous match.

"Listen, you guys got this. There's no reason why you two shouldn't be confident," He claimed, looking in the kunoichi's eyes as he did so. "You know what they can do; the Nara has shadow jutsus and Kiba has Inuzuka Taijutsu. I suspect they got snake jutsus like Naruto, which means you've seen all of their primary moves and you can handle them. And also, barbeque on me if you both advance."

"W-We'll try Gen-Genma-sensei. We'll—"

"Don't try," Genma cut her off. "Just do it."

"Right! Let's go, Hinata," Choji asserted, licking his chops at the prospect of some all-you-can-eat barbeque.

And with that, Genma replaced a senbon in his mouth.

* * *

"Begin!"

From the moment the final syllable left Asuma's lips, Kiba reached into his new black trench jacket and threw down a cluster of smoke bombs like Shikamaru asked him to do on their way down the steps. Hinata activated her Byakugan to counter and Choji moved to a closer position to that of his all-seeing partner.

"No! Choji, back away!" Hinata attempted to warn but it was too late.

"What the? Oh…" He realized, looking down at the shadow connecting him to Shikamaru.

The purple fog faded away to reveal the smirking Genin, still with his hands in a sign for his jutsu. "That was too easy… I like easy," He commented.

In the upper level Anko was chuckling. "He had Kiba drop the smoke bombs predicting Choji would stick close to Hinata who could actually see, and intercepted him with his shadow."

"That sounds pretty lucky to me…" Kin considered but Anko shook her head.

"Not at all… Shikamaru may be a lazy ass, but he's way smarter than either of us. I bet he did some quick thinking in his head to figure out how long he needed to wait to catch Choji in a particular spot."

Hinata gulped as she felt some sweat build up on her forehead, glancing in the direction of her father, the Hokage the ANBU and that other guy with the bandages before shaking her head slightly. _No, I can't let myself think about father… I have to focus!_

Choji laughed. "Nice one Shikamaru… But this plan's not gonna work!" He smirked back at his friend as Kiba and Akamaru joined their teammate at his side.

"Seems like it's working to me Choji," Kiba rebutted confidently.

"I know Shikamaru can't hold me like this forever; he'll run out of chakra! He can't eliminate me like this so he needs you to do that for him… But the Inuzuka are tracking and Taijutsu specialists. Hinata can counter that and protect me long enough to force Shikamaru to drop his hold on me."

Choji then glanced at his teammate and caught onto the fact that she was becoming increasingly apprehensive about this stage. "Hinata," He whispered, snapping her out of the daze to look at her ironically smiling teammate. "Don't worry about it, you can do this…" He encouraged.

"I-I don't know, I'm not as good at this as Neji is."

Choji frowned. "C'mon Hinata! You can't psych yourself out like this just because they're watching!"

Hinata nodded slowly. "You're right… I-If I let them get to me I w-won-won't be able to show them wh-what I'm made o-of."

"Akamaru!" The dog barked and wagged its tail in response. "I'll leave Choji to you!" He declared, dropping to all-fours.

Choji and Hinata appeared confused by that statement before the puppy before them transformed into a second Kiba. "Ninja Art: Man-Beast Mimicry… All Fours Jutsu!" Kiba prepared, sharpening and enlarging his nails as well as his teeth, eying Hinata with a menacing feral look.

" _You got it sensei_ ," Anko grunted in a sarcastic manner. Seeing the Uzumaki give her a curious look she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I told him to use it against them that they know what to expect, and he's going to charge at a Hyuga with fucking Taijutsu… Idiot."

Naruto laughed and placed his hands behind his head in relaxing fashion. "Yeah Kiba can be hard headed at times… But maybe he's just checking her out?" After receiving no reply the blonde turned his eyes off the dual to see haphazard facial expressions of Anko and Kin.

"Not like _that_ …" Naruto sweatdropped. "I meant like, see how good she is compared to Neji, ya know?"

Kiba and Akamaru each moved in towards their individual prey. Thinking fast, Hinata produced a simple clone and sent it after Kiba while she moved to intercept Akamaru who was beginning the Tunneling Fang to knock Choji out. Before the Kiba-lookalike could fully perform the technique, a tactful kick from the Hyuga gal knocked him away. The impact of the kick sent Akamaru away who bounced off the ground hard enough to transform back into his usual appearance. Hinata's eyes widened as she saw the Tunneling Fang through her Byakugan but was unable to avoid it at the last second, and winced at the drilling motion in her back, sending her skidding.

Coming to a halt on all fours, a grinning Kiba snorted. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that Hinata!" He exclaimed, rubbing below his nose with one finger. "Simple clones don't have a scent, that stupid academy trick won't fool me."

Akamaru stood up and violently shook his fur. "You all right, Akamaru?" He asked with slight concern, having seen how hard he got kicked. Kiba truly hated it when Akamaru took a hit like that because he put him in a position he could get hurt. The dog barked in confirmation and was wagging his tail, always a good sign.

Hinata pulled two handfuls of shuriken out, launching them at her target and rushing to Choji. Kiba just shook his head as he sunk lower to the ground to avoid the projectiles. A ways behind him, Shikamaru widened his eyes and dropped to one knee, allowing the shuriken to pass over his head. Consequently, Choji did the same.

"Shikamaru, what the hell?" Kiba groaned upon missing a swing that was supposed to knock the Akimichi out cold. Before he could look back at his lazy teammate he was forced to instead defend himself from the dangerous close-range opponent that had now set her special eyes on none other than him. Hiashi's eyes flickered ever so briefly a hint of amusement at how his daughter turned the tables on them.

 _Damn it._ Shikamaru grit his teeth and refocused his chakra in order to hold Choji down, who attempted to force his way free of the shadow jutsu upon seeing the shuriken distraction take place. Choji was not an easy person to restrain due to his abnormal strength but he had control of him still, for now.

Kiba meanwhile, was fending off Hinata's Jyuuken to the best of his ability, doing an impressive job at that. So far, Kiba had remained low to the ground, relying on his All Fours jutsu to combat her and impair her ability to use Gentle Fist. By doing so, Hinata was having difficulty closing any of his tenketsu since she had to strike too low and with Kiba's speed and wild movements, attempts to hit him where she needed was more challenging than one would've expected. The only good shots she was getting in on him were kicks, which she couldn't use to shut his chakra network down!

The Hyuga's foot connected with her feral opponent harshly driving him into the air by his chin. Steadying herself back on two feet, she leapt after him and Genma smirked in the upper level. _An opponent in the air is more vulnerable than an opponent low to the floor. Well done, Hinata._ As the kunoichi was prepared to strike out at his tenketsu points, a quad of snakes emerged seemingly out of nowhere to those without a Byakugan from Kiba's new trench jacket. She retracted her arm but the snakes didn't stop. Abandoning her attack, she swatted each snake away with light Jyuuken taps and landed gracefully the snakes dropping in front of her in pain. This got a brief chuckle out of Orochimaru on the upper level, who enjoyed seeing his more basic techniques on display in the younger generation.

 _Hmpt… She's the clan heir and she cannot even dominate a Taijutsu battle against a member of another clan. Once a failure, always a failure._ Neji silently berated.

Kiba landed on all fours and popped a food pill for the speed boost, radiating confidence. "Akamaru!" He called out, tossing another pill in the air. The ninja hound jumped to catch it and swallowed, its fur taking on a crimson hue as it growled in the direction of Hinata.

 _Uh oh, that doesn't look good._ Choji thought to himself upon realizing Hinata was going to have to deal with them two on one now and redoubled his efforts to shake free of Shikamaru's shadow to no avail. "You can't hold me forever Shikamaru!" He shouted at his friend who smirked back.

"Maybe not," He conceded. "But ask Kiba; ask Naruto, my sensei, anyone really… I'm great at staying in one place and not moving. It just so happens that we're doing exactly that right now… I intend for it to stay that way awhile."

Choji chuckled at his retort. _I can't even tell if he's joking._ "I don't think I would need to talk to someone else to know that…"

"Ninja Art: Man-beast Clone!"

The two Kiba's jetted at Hinata from opposite sides, moving far faster than a moment ago. Due to the Byakugan, she was well aware of where Akamaru was as he converged on her from behind but reacting to both speedy savages accordingly was no easy task. The real Kiba reached her before his counterpart. She spun away from his strike, all the while keeping tabs on Akamaru and made a timely hurdle, landing a kick on Akamaru with the back of her foot in the process. Kiba saw this and snarled, lunging towards her position with a possessed look on his face.

Striking out timely with the Gentle Fist, Hinata forced Kiba to rethink that approach and he came to a halt just short of her before wildly bouncing out to the right of her and continuing past the Hyuga heiress. The Inuzuka clenched to the wall itself with all fours and propelled himself towards her again using the Tunneling Fang. Narrowly evading Kiba's attempt to drill right into her, she found herself vulnerable in midair to a second Tunneling Fang user. Her cry was audible as Akamaru blasted himself straight into her back, painfully knocking her into the wall before landing on her side.

 _Th-Theey're so darn f-fast…_ She thought grimly, lying still on the floor.

"Atta boy, Akamaru!"

 _I'll have to try…that now._ Hinata decided, picking herself off the ground and staring back at the cocky Kiba determinedly. _I can't give up! Father's watching, N-Neji's watching, Genma-sensei's watching and… Naruto, even though he's probably rooting for Kiba!_

"Looks like Kiba has her number Choji; care to just give up and save me the trouble? I really haven't been in the mood for any of this crap since I got up…" Shikamaru yawned for what had to be the hundredth time since the first match began.

"He's like three times worse than normal today!" Anko grumbled under her breath getting a chuckle out of Naruto.

"Didn't think so," He muttered when it was clear Choji had no intention of paying Shikamaru that favor.

 _I'm burning through my chakra; I have to let him go before I tap beyond half of my reserves just to be safe. I could try to restrain him with snakes before that, but knowing Choji and the Akimichi clan that would be ineffective at best, the death of the snakes at worst. I could use their venom but I'd rather not poison my best friend, so what other options do I have? Snake Ninjutsu is a bad mismatch against someone like him… and aside from Shadow Possession I don't have anything that can allow me to control this fight. And even if I was good at Taijutsu… that would be suicide too._

Choji was meanwhile patiently musing how to deal with Shikamaru. _How hard could it be to get Shikamaru to quit? I don't want to hurt him so there's no way I'll pound on him with my Expansion jutsu. But then again he doesn't know I wouldn't… So maybe I should just make it seem like I'm trying to crush him until he decides dodging my attacks over and over is too much 'trouble.'_ The rotund shinobi decided. _It should work out; no one's lazier than him!_ Then the Akimichi noticed the smirk on his longtime friend's face. _Uh oh._ He thought as the Nara began walking towards him. _I know that look, he's planning something, this isn't good!_ Choji knew, redoubling his efforts to break free of the shadow forcefully. When Shikamaru was right in front of Choji he then confused many of those by turning around, Choji being forced to copy his actions and they were now back to back with nothing but a foot and a binding shadow between them.

Shikamaru reached out and shoved his hand into Choji's pockets, one by one littering the floor with empty bags of chips and other snacks while Choji's hand consequentially grasped at Shikamaru's trench jacket multiple times. "Only one bag left?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, taking the last of Choji's chips.

"I haven't been home in days so I've had to conserve and that's all I have left! Now GIVE. THEM. BACK. TO ME!"

Shikamaru chuckled and the two figures turned around again to face one another. "No can do Choji…" the two of them plopped to the ground in Shikamaru-esque relaxing fashion as he opened the bag.

"Shikamaru…" Choji seethed as Shika reached into the bag.

"Hm, barbeque. Isn't that your favorite? How troublesome this must be for you, if you really want them… All you have to do is forfeit, Choji."

"CHOJI! If you give up over a bag of CHIPS… I will go down there and kick your ass!" Genma snapped.

* * *

Hinata's body was forced into the air from the impact of Kiba's forearm at the same time Akamaru returned to normal with a piercing whine. "Akamaru?" Kiba said wide-eyed.

The ninja hound was currently struggling to stand, with a senbon sticking out of his side. "Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, his voice on edge as he ran hurriedly to his companion's aid. Akamaru continued to whine at him as he slowly removed the senbon and stroked its fur. To Kiba's confusion, the dog slipped and dropped to the floor lying sideways and whined more. "What is it, Akamaru?" Anko and Naruto stared on with puzzled expressions of their own, very familiar with the dog and sensing something amiss with his behavior.

Neji gasped in surprise at his cousin's action for a second and hid it away to drift in his thoughts. _Hinata harming a puppy? I never would've expected that; I suppose her sensei has forced her to progress mentally more than I originally thought. No matter, she's still weak minded when it comes to people. She didn't even bother to stand up for herself when I cut her down earlier; she's still a sniveling coward._ _Fate is betraying the main house, cousin. Your reign of fortune and false superiority is near the end!_

"It was just a senbon," Kin spoke up. "Akamaru shouldn't be affected so much unless it was… oh."

"Poison…" Anko finished the thought, agreeing completely.

"Poison," Naruto repeated, pausing to stare at his own hand as he pinched it with the other, feeling nothing still thanks to Shino. "So she numbed him… There's no way Akamaru will be able to fight like that! I could barely do anything like this."

"We can't assume it's the same poison, Naruto," Anko contradicted. "Though it probably is. The Hyuga clan isn't known for using anything like that, so it must be Genma's teaching."

"And it was a poison coated senbon again, like in Naruto's match," Kin nodded.

"What's wrong with him!?" Kiba growled, his predatory eyes transfixing on the Hyuga.

"He'll be fine, I promise," Hinata replied, slipping into a defensive Jyuuken stance.

Kiba's fury did not diminish. "You're going to regret doing that!" He scowled and charged at her again.

Once more, Kiba played on the advantage of sticking low to the ground to minimize Hinata's ability to work on his tenketsu. This time Hinata had a different tactic to deal with him. Striking downward with her Gentle Fist, Kiba predictably evaded it by making a four limbed leap to the side playing to his speed advantage and allowing her attack to slap at the ground. Quick to retaliate, Kiba raised from the ground and lunged at her with his leg extended. Hinata had been tracking his movements with the Byakugan and easily rolled to the side of it without needing to turn around and see it like a normal opponent. Off balance, Kiba had no chance as her hands lightly danced across his body, each tap sealing a tenketsu.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he knew he had to do something quick or it'd be useless to continue this fight. With a little assistance from gravity, he managed to fall to the ground before she completed the disruption of his chakra network. Persistent on ending this, she ventured to the ground after him hands ignited with invisible chakra.

Her hands were halted short of the tenketsu she was targeting as his feet blasted into her gut and pushed her off. He rolled over, propping himself back onto all fours. _Damn it! That Jyuuken shit hurts like hell! No wonder it sent Shikamaru to the hospital back then._ He inwardly ranted, clasping one of his shoulders.

Speaking of Shikamaru…

The Nara was currently shaking the empty chip bag upside down, producing nothing but crumbs, holding the final chip is his other hand. "This is it Choji… the last one. Give up, or I swear to you I'll eat it," He threatened.

Sakura facepalmed. "What kind of fight is this!?"

"Just watch, Choji's about to quit!" A prominent female voice declared, suddenly standing between her and Kin. "Choji's always had a weird obsession with not allowing anyone but him to eat the last chip."

"Ino! You're awake," Her pink haired friend greeted.

"How long was I out? It looks like this fight has been going on awhile…"

"This fight has been going on for more than ten minutes, maybe fifteen," Kin answered.

"What!? It shouldn't take me that long to regain consciousness… It was just a misfire!" Ino frowned. _I'll definitely be talking to daddy about this…_

Shikamaru sighed and shut his eyes in annoyance, his little idea wasn't working. "I've got to hand it to you Choji… I didn't think you'd be able to handle this."

Reopening his eyes, the Nara decided to stop playing hostage with the final chip and just eat it, knowing that even though Choji wasn't quitting… the action would still deal a mental blow to an angry Akimichi at least. _NO!_ Choji exploded, watching the chip slowly progress closer and closer to Shikamaru's lips.

A contagion of shocked expressions flooded the upper level as well as Lord Third and his company. Choji broke loose of the paralysis jutsu and rocketed into the Nara faster than Kiba could have, sending the chip flying into the air.

"…" Was the general reaction.

Catching sight of the chip's position in the air, Choji moved under where it would land and allowed it to drop in his mouth. "THE LAST CHIP IS MINE! I WON'T LET YOU!" He screamed in an absurdly demonic sounding voice.

"Ugh my head…" Shikamaru complained, rubbing his temple and snapping Choji out of his trance.

"Sh-Shikamaru? Are you all right…?"

The Nara groaned and got on his feet. _This is such a drag._ "Yeah but I'm probably gonna need some aspirin after this." _Choji's strong when he can't have the last chip… Strong enough to just brush off my Shadow Possession in one undetectable burst of power. Who would've thought?_

Choji's previously psychotic demeanor had softened to that of the clouds Shikamaru admires. "I'm really sorry…"

The Nara shrugged. "Don't be, this _is_ a Chunin exam match."

"Yeah I know that… But I.." He trailed off. He wanted to surrender right there. He broke a promise to himself, a promise that he would never attack someone close to him because of what he and his clan were able to do. But he knew he couldn't do that just yet. If he did, Hinata would be forced to take both Kiba and Shikamaru. Choji would never throw a comrade to the wolves like that, and especially not Hinata, his teammate. Making it to the finals would be good for her confidence, she needs this, and he would not be the one to ruin her shot at it.

"How bout we make a deal, Shikamaru?"

Shika's eyes narrowed on him thoughtfully. "I'm listening…"

"We wait for our teammates to finish their fight, if Hinata defeats Kiba… You forfeit, if Kiba wins… I forfeit."

"Tempting, but I have to decline. Sensei would nag at me for the next six months until we can enter the next Chunin exams if I struck a deal like that and had it backfire. No way, definitely not worth it," He explained, peering his eyes beyond Choji's to see what was happening with Kiba.

Hinata and Kiba were in a deadlock. Each had a kunai in one hand, struggling against each others. Kiba snatched the kunoichi's other hand by the wrist when she attempted to jolt it forward and strike at the tenketsu along Kiba's arm that was participating in the kunai lock. After he foiled her plan, he withdrew the kunai back and slashed three times, forcing Hinata to block with hers. Serving as a distraction, he then tugged her towards him forcefully by the wrist he was still holding and tried to bring the blunt end of his kunai down on her to knock her out. Fortunately for Hinata, she thought quickly and leaned her head to the side, suffering a painful jab to the exposed neck with Kiba's blunt ended weapon. Trying to ignore the pain she had just grunted in agony over, she swiftly moved inside with a Gentle Fist strike that Kiba narrowly avoided.

 _This could go either way._ Shikamaru decided, after watching that bit of the fighting.

"To be honest… I was all talk when you caught me in your shadow. I never planned on hitting you, just attacking and try to get you to quit somehow… I don't think I'm going to be able to do that now."

"Choji…"

"I can't handle being forced to hurt my friends, I don't care about this stupid promotion. I guess it's my nindo." Asuma shot Lord Third a questioning look while listening to this conversation.

"So you're giving up?" Shikamaru asked, surprised.

"No… Well, not yet anyway."

"Not yet?" The Nara repeated.

"I can't quit now or else Hinata would be overwhelmed… So I'm staying in this until she wins. If I quit now I'm abandoning her, if I quit after Kiba's eliminated I'm only betraying myself."

Shikamaru smirked. "You're assuming Kiba's going to lose in the first place."

"Even if he wins… I'll still forfeit," Choji shrugged.

"CHOJI AKIMICHI ELIMINATED BY INADVERTANT FORFEITATION!" Asuma barked for the whole arena to hear.

"What!? What are you talking about!?" Choji bellowed at the bearded ANBU captain.

"Ch-Choji?" Hinata let out a quiet, shocked stutter.

"Inadvertent? What the hell.." Kiba muttered, the two of them having paused their battle.

"I know it was never outright stated, but it's a violation to stay in a match just to keep your teammate from fighting a two versus one when you have no intention of participating. You've just forfeited."

Genma appeared between the proctor and his student and eyed Asuma harshly. "I've never heard of such a rule before… Not that I'm happy with my student's decision either way." Genma knew if he didn't argue Hinata was screwed, so he intervened if only for that reason.

"Well that's because we've never held tag team preliminary matches before," Asuma explained. "The ruling was confirmed by the Hokage. This is over for Choji and Hinata as well if she chooses."

"But… If Shikamaru were to try and interfere with their fight I wouldn't have let him get by! That's strategical participation!" Choji argued.

"No, that's turning a two versus two into a one versus one and giving this Nara kid a free pass. You're abusing the system to your liking, kid," Asuma retorted.

"Hinata Hyuga…" Asuma turned his attention. "You may drop out now if you like. The choice is yours."

 _Wh-What should I do?_ She thought, her eyes wandering to those whose opinions mattered to her.

First she sought out Neji, who was currently scowling and muttering things about main house favoritism and being offered a moment to decide whether or not to continue. Then she saw Tokuro, a more distant family member who showed zero interest in what was happening at the moment. Then Naruto who was seemingly conversing with Sakura, probably about what just unfolded with Choji's elimination.

Finally, she stared at her father who returned her gaze emotionlessly and nodded ever slightly at her as if to say ' _it's okay._ '

She swallowed hard and nodded back at him. "I forfeit as well, I cannot take them both."

 _Why can't I be strong like you, Naruto? You wouldn't have quit, you would've fought them both at once until someone was in the need of medical attention. But me? I just take the coward's way out…_

 ** _A/N:_** **If you're wondering why the fuck I didn't have Kiba/Hinata finish their fight well, think about it. Shikamaru and Choji sitting around waiting for them to finish so Choji can forfeit is just bullshit so I made up that rule to disqualify him. Why in the hell would anyone want to read about Shikamaru inserting himself into that fight making it two versus one so she can get paralyzed and smashed by Tunneling Fang? Waste of your time and mine honestly.**

 **And I couldn't have them finish on their own without Shikamaru because if someone was eliminated Choji would've forfeited! So I didn't have a choice**

 **I wanted to make Choji do something awesome but at this point of time in canon it was difficult to get Choji to spar with his own sensei. I figure in this story he would be hesitant like that with: Hinata, Shino and then Shikamaru/MAYBE Ino based on childhood.**

 **It's been noted before that Ino wasn't particularly close to the two of them during the academy days (if you re-read some comments made by Shikamaru and her early on) At least in my story that is… Since none of us know a ton about the academy days relationships aside from Ino/Sakura rivalry and Sasuke's popularity or in Naruto's case a lack thereof I kinda had to go with some things of my own. Basically, Ino was more of a friend to them as kids when they were younger than the academy graduation point where she was popular and talked/fought with random girls over Sasuke. Choji/Shikamaru were still tight though and mostly neutral to everyone else. That's just a bit off track though… the point is idt Choji can stomach doing that to a close friend so I had him forfeit, believing that's what he would've done in canon as well.**

 **Having an Inuzuka/Hyuga fight was something I wanted to do for obvious reasons. The Leaf's two best Taijutsu clans' heirs going at it hell yeah. Kiba/Hinata fighting is precisely why I named the chapter that :P I actually thought the clash between the two was pretty good and even**

 **Anyway, glad to get passed the prelims. I told yall the story is not about the pre-Chunin exam days and now that we're at this point I'm really happy. Big things are coming very soon. Very very soon and I have a feeling you will all be quite surprised with the turn of events I have in store.**

 **I know this fight was a little shorter and probably less exciting than the others but I hope it was enjoyable. I don't feel too great about it considering it has 2 of the main characters in it but I had to work with the cards I dealt myself, right?**

 **Until next time pointa out**


	26. Some day

**Chapter 26: Some day…**

 ** _A/N:_** **Sounded like you guys had that meh feeling I had about last chapter as well Lol. That just made me want to hit a home run on this chap though so… blessing in disguise? Hm? That'll come down to your opinion I guess.**

 **Beginning of this chapter will just be a bit of a wrap up of loose ends within the preliminaries arena then it delves into other matters, the focus is mostly on the usuals… Team Six and our favorite spies.**

 **Apologies in advance if I overdid it on Jiraiya's 'issues' but I thought it was funny so too bad lmao**

 **Enjoy**

"Well?" Kiba asked, gesturing for Anko to speak.

"Well, what?"

"You're not going to congratulate us or something? We just advanced to the finals…"

"No, I'm not."

Shikamaru sighed. "Do I even want to know why, sensei?"

"Oi I just went head to head in close range with a Hyuga! I think a little credit or praise would be nice sensei!"

Anko gave Kiba a terrifying glare and smirked. "Exactly! I told you to be _cautious_ against them you jackass. I'm not congratulating you because you didn't listen to me and you didn't actually defeat her." She then sent a look Shikamaru's way.

"What?" He raised his hands defensively.

"You didn't do anything that entire time beyond the first five seconds when you caught him with your shadow!"

"That's not true…" Shikamaru retorted. "It took chakra to hold him… And I played some mind games."

"I'm not praising you for stealing a bag of chips!"

"Meh whatever…" Shikamaru grumbled. "I don't care."

"How's he doing?" Kiba asked the new addition of Team Six, who was cradling Akamaru in her arms trying to keep him settled down.

"I think he's okay… Just confused about the poison so he was whining a lot earlier, it was his way of telling us there was something wrong and he panicked a bit," Kin hypothesized. Originally, Kiba went straight to Anko for her poison expertise but she pretty much delegated to the teenage kunoichi. Being a heavy senbon user, it should come to no one's surprise that Kin did coat some of them in poison from time to time; she just found Genjutsu tricks working in correlation to them preferable.

"Judging by the way Akamaru is struggling to stand or walk properly…" Kin paused to jab her pointer finger into Akamaru's fur roughly three times.

"What the hell! Cut that out!"

"Relax Kiba," Kin blinked. "I'm only analyzing the effect of the poison. Based on that lack of reaction on his part coupled with the rough time standing and moving it's safe to say it's the exact same poison Naruto is enduring. You'll have to ask Hinata or Genma to be one hundred percent sure but that doesn't seem important. She promised he'd be okay and like I said… Akamaru's symptoms are in line with Naruto's."

Sighing, Kiba accepted Akamaru into his own arms from her and she gave a slight smile before deciding to stand up and leave the companions be for a bit. "Ino," She called out. "Are you going to be all right?" Kin didn't make a deal out of it at the time because everyone seemed unsurprised by her unconscious state after her partner was eliminated from their match. When Ino woke up she left it be in favor of watching Shikamaru and Kiba.

"Don't worry about it! Typical Yamanaka stuff… I missed my target so I went unconscious it's normal and would happen every single time if I spent a whole day aiming at a wall or something," The blonde assured. _But I don't know why the hell it took so long for me to wake up… Over fifteen minutes they said._ Ino thought, hiding her personal concerns behind a brave face.

"If you say so; I have zero experience with Yamanaka's until our match."

Ino grinned. "Well, I better do something about that…" Seeing the inquisitive look on Kin's face she elaborated. "You should hang out with Sakura and I sometime, shopping or a movie whatever. And maybe you could give us more detail on your situation. I'm sure Shikamaru shortened the explanation to the smallest amount of syllables he could manage," she laughed.

"Sure, that sounds—" Before Kin could finish her reply their attention was diverted as Asuma bellowed to all remaining Genin.

"Traditionally, your finals matches are announced right now so you already know who to prepare for. However, the original proctor for this stage of the exam changed that as well because he felt no one should be allowed to spend a month focusing on how to counter a single opponent because it's unrealistic to a real battle in the field. Like the tag team matches, I am honoring his decision and so I dismiss you now until one month's time. You will face off against opponents in one on one matches in front of a crowd of nobles, dignitaries and otherwise rich or important people as well as your fellow Leaf shinobi. The Kazekage and a few Sand ninja are expected to attend as well," he glanced in the direction of 'Garra.' "Use your time wisely this month; if you used all of your best techniques learn something new. Everyone's seen each other fight to this point and you don't want to be predictable..."

 _Neji Tenten and Lee from Team Nine, Gaara of the Dessert, those two older guys that rely on wind and fire combo jutsus, the two ninja from the Land of Snow, Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto…_ Sasuke tallied mentally. _And myself. From what I saw of them… there's a wide range of skill sets I have to prepare for. I have a lot of work to do as usual._ He stole a glance from 'Gaara' and held back a sneer. _Especially if he's half as good as those weakling Waterfall ninja made him appear._

 _I'm fated to defeat my opponent, whomever it may be._

 _All right! That guy from the Sand and I finished our match so quickly no one's seen my moves! This is great._

 _What a drag… a month of training and preparation and I still have to do extra work to plan out a strategy for every possible opponent._

 _If I am going to get Gaara promoted… I'll have to make sure to give my unfortunate opponent an opportunity to showcase their skills first so I don't rob any of these poor Genin their shot at ranking up._

 _I don't care who I fight! I'm going to embarrass them so badly Anko-sensei won't be able to complain about a damn thing. And next time, Akamaru's not going to get hurt!_

 _YOSH! I'll show all of those watching the power of youth! The will see how great a ninja can be through sheer hard work and will power and we'll see who the real genius is then! NEJI!_

 _I'm not going to lose… I'll work harder than anybody this month and then I'll show the whole village how great I am! Mark my words… This village is going to start believing in me!_

"I wish all of you good luck; dismissed."

* * *

"Ichiraku's!"

"The Steakhouse!"

"No way! I haven't had Ichiraku's in days! Stupid Chunin exams!"

"And I need STEAK!"

"RAMEN!"

"STEAK!"

"RAMEN!"

"STEAK GOD DAMN IT!"

They had just returned to the Leaf village after a quick run through the Forest of Death and decided to go out and have a meal together to celebrate the boys' advancement to the finals. Kiba and Naruto were wrestling and screaming at each other over this right in the middle of the street, with a bored Shikamaru, annoyed Anko and deadpanned Kin behind them. "Should I do something?"

"No, I got it."

Before Kin could inquire what her newly assigned sensei was going to do, Anko stomped over the Genin rolling along the road and separated them, smacking each on the head as she did so. "Damn it sensei, that hurts."

 _She's really ticked off about something! I can tell that would've hurt pretty bad, it's a good thing I'm still poisoned._ Naruto paused in thought to gulp. _I'm definitely not reminding her that…_

"Quit squabbling you two."

"Hey look," A nondescript civilian with below average intelligence called out. "They actually gave that crazy purple haired bitch a team of kids!"

Anko's ear twitched like a radar. "What was that!" Seconds later, Anko was right in front of the man, kunai halted in midair as she was frozen in place with a shadow stretching out to one of her Genin, who sighed in annoyance.

"Nice save," Kin muttered. "How'd you do that? It seemed like you weren't even paying attention since we stopped walking."

"I have a sixth sense," The Nara replied.

"Oh?"

"I can feel troublesome things coming before they unfold; it's a real pain."

"Should I consider that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kin chuckled.

"Call it whatever you want but either way it's troublesome."

"Shikamaru, you can let me go now…" Anko hinted, having given herself a moment to calm down knowing he wouldn't listen until she did.

The shadow retreated to its manipulator and the group continued their walk as if nothing happened. Naruto and Kiba resumed a more civil argument about where the group would be eating as they were currently aiming towards the section of the village where most restaurants resided. Two thirds of the way there, Shikamaru noticed Anko's shoulders tense ever so slightly for just a second. That put him on alert.

"But at the steakhouse there are actual _options_ for everyone to pick from!"

"There's plenty of options at Ichiraku's! Do you know how many flavors of ramen they have? Hmm!?"

Kiba let out an annoyed growl and Kin just shook her head. These two were obviously the high metabolism types that enjoyed their food almost as much as a fat guy like—I mean… _rotund_ guy like Choji and got protective over their food and would apparently argue the entire walk about who's food they should eat. At least they weren't bored like her other teammate. She glanced at Shikamaru and found that he stopped staring off into space and walking on autopilot and instead looked focused. Raising an eyebrow at him, she followed the rest of her new team as they turned the corner.

Seeing Kin's expression, he appeared to dismiss whatever struck him. "It's probably nothing," Shoving his hands back in his pockets.

* * *

Naruto was grumbling under his breath about teammates and their lack of respect for the 'food of the Gods' as he struggled to saw into his steak. Since he was still poisoned, cutting it was turning out to be difficult and his frustration was mounting. Kiba was enjoying himself of course, it was meat and that's all that mattered. Akamaru was still poisoned, but unlike Naruto he didn't need anything other than his mouth to enjoy the meal. Shikamaru was being… Shikamaru. He sat beside Kiba, who was between him and Anko's currently vacant seat. Across from them were Naruto and Kin. He absentmindedly dipped a small chunk of meat in a puddle of steak sauce and dropped it in his mouth as he stared out at the clouds from his window seat.

"You assholes…" Anko remarked, taking her seat. "Could've waited for me to get back before starting your meals."

"And you could've taken less time in the restroom, sensei."

The glare Kiba received for that statement made everyone at the table shiver. "I'll remember that comment…" She proceeded to lick her lips and grin deviously at him.

Deciding to hide the intimidation, Kiba smirked and looked right back into her eyes. "Bring it on, sensei! I'm all riled up about these exams!" Licking his own lips.

Shikamaru interjected by elbowing Kiba before this could escalate any further. "What are you stupid? Think about who you're talking to… I don't even want to know what she'd do if you encourage her like that."

"I promise to be… creative, when I repay you," The purple haired Jonin responded, ignoring Shikamaru's advice to the Inuzuka.

"It was really nice knowing you Kiba, you were a good friend," Naruto threw in.

Kiba deflated. "Shut up…" Returning to his steak thinking about what possible horrors he may have just invited Anko to commit against him as Naruto laughed at his expense.

Naruto's laughter was killed when Kin reached passed him and swiped his plate away. "Oi, what the hell are you doing!?"

"Cutting your steak."

Naruto's face flushed, that's just embarrassing. "I can cut my own steak…"

"Not right now you can't," She snorted. "You're poisoned, it's not a big deal."

"Aww…" Anko mocked. "That's so cute. Is he the one, Kin?"

"The one?" She repeated with a blush creeping up on her.

"You know… _The one_ that got you all excited this morning and made you hide in the hallway hoping I wouldn't notice."

"Wh-I did NOT get excited about anyone! I just thought it was indecent for me to watch three boys I don't even know get dressed!"

"I see," Anko laughed. "So you think in a few weeks you'll be more comfortable watching them change then?"

"WHAT!?"

"This teasing reminds me," Shikamaru jumped into the conversation. "I've been meaning to ask you guys. How do you two know each other?" He asked the females.

Anko and Kin shared a glance and the former nodded at the latter. "It's kind of a long story; you want to hear all of it or the short version?"

"None of us know much about you, so I think the full version would be better, right?" Kiba suggested, getting a nod from their other teammates.

Sliding Naruto's plate back to him she smiled sadly with her eyes cast down on her own plate. "All right…" She conceded. "It began when I was eight years old, when I lost my parents."

The trio of Genin boys stopped in whatever motion they were in the middle of and ignored their food for the moment and stared in surprise. They weren't expecting someone as cheerful as her to have a depressing background like that. "They didn't die or anything, that I know of."

"What?" Naruto interrupted. "If they're still alive… Then what happened?" He asked, incredulous. To him, the thought of someone having a family and then losing it without some kind of tragic death seemed unbelievable. He'd grown up without anymore most of his life, and it took him all that time to get a real group of friends. Of course, he was the village Jinchuriki so it's not like the odds were in his favor from the start, but he couldn't imagine having parents and then just losing them.

"They were arrested," She explained. "Apparently my parents were devoted to the drug business… my father 'cooked' and my mother was one of the people responsible for discreetly selling it. I didn't know any of this until after they were busted and I was sent to the orphanage."

"Oh…" Naruto responded, sadness tainting his voice uncharacteristically. "But… then I should've met you before!"

Kin blinked. "You were an orphan, Naruto?" He gave her a solemn nod. "Ah… sorry. I lived in a trading village in the Land of Earth back then. I spent two years in that orphanage," She went on. "At some point, I met some jerks who were about my age now at the time. One of them would ask me out a lot, even though I was like ten and he was fifteen…"

"What the fuck…?" Kiba blurted. "That's just…"

Kin nodded in agreement. "Grotesque? Anyway, I of course would say no every time and they would use it as an excuse to beat me up for fun." Shikamaru by now was just gaping at her in shock. How in the hell could someone so friendly and helpful to people have this kind of background?

"I doubt he wanted me like that…" She backtracked. "I've always thought they did it so I'd say no and they could cover me in bruises." She paused momentarily, hating the next memory she was digging up. "One day, they were going to kill me for some reason, or at least they acted like they were going to but Anko happened to be around on a mission and saved me."

The boys all looked to Anko who simply nodded in acknowledgement and glanced at a clock. It was actually a lie, Orochimaru saved her, but no one except Anko and the Hokage were aware of that. Well, Kin knew but she didn't know her savior's name and that it was actually Orochimaru, the "traitor" that taught Anko and Tokuro most of what they knew.

"I worked really hard when I got here, enrolling in the academy and graduating after only two years," She smiled. "I didn't want to be weak like that again and decided to be like Anko. The Leaf village became my home and I try to enjoy it as much as possible."

"Wow… Anko-sensei inspired someone to become a shinobi. And here I thought Anko only knew how to scare people." Everyone laughed at Naruto's assessment, himself included and the mood thankfully lightened up a bit.

Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk at his next thought. "I think Sasuke should take lessons from you… With your personality no one would ever had thought you went through all of that." Kiba laughed in agreement but surprisingly Naruto shook his head.

"I may hate the bastard… But it's not the same. How can we expect someone to not have a stick up his ass after his own brother kills his family off?" It sounded weird when Naruto defended Sasuke but he had a point, if anyone understood being alone, it was Naruto. And in Naruto's opinion, he had it just as bad since he never had a family at all, and he would've given anything to have one whereas Sasuke's was taken from him. "But he should at least try to do something about the stick anyway," He then added, somewhat jokingly.

"Wait, Naruto said he was an orphan too… He's more cheerful than I am so what's the big deal, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru sweatdropped. "Yeah but he's Naruto it's not the same."

Kin just stared at him deadpanned. "And you're the group's analytical…"

"You guys are depressing me," Anko complained, and looked at the clock again. "I thought you guys wanted to eat together to _celebrate_ the three of you advancing to the finals?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh yeah… Guess we all kind of forgot about that."

"I haven't forgotten anything!" Kiba protested. "As a matter of fact… I'm not celebrating our advance at all, I'm celebrating the amount of ass I'm going to kick in a month. Isn't that right, Akamaru?"

Naruto smirked. "Well it won't be my ass! I'm going all the way, believe it!"

"It won't be?" Kiba challenged. "Who's the top dog around here in our spars again?" He bragged, sticking a thumb at himself.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I guarantee it'll be Shika's if you get close enough!" Anko taunted as Shikamaru grumbled something about sensei's and their annoying Taijutsu critique.

"Here ya go, boy!" Kiba handed a bone to the ninja-hound and got to work at cutting his third steak.

"If you guys could possibly face each other in the finals, you probably aren't going to train together at all for the month are you?" Kin brought up.

"Nope," Kiba agreed. "The last thing I need is Shika analyzing anything knew I might pick up," He chuckled.

"I'll probably just train with my dad, maybe take the next step with Shadow Possession. Otherwise I'll just make a few strategies up for every possible opponent and I'll be set."

"That's it…? Lazy ass," Anko muttered.

"I said I would train… quit complaining sensei!" Shikamaru retorted.

Anko once again checked the clock while replying. "I'll do as I please, kid."

"How about you, Naruto?" Kin prodded.

"Well I can't say I know what I'm doing yet. Anko-sensei probably won't train me since Kiba and Shikamaru are in it too, so I won't get any treatment they won't… Genma-sensei might be a little upset we eliminated his whole team… And I don't have a clan to ask for anything. I'll figure something out though, and I'll be better than ever, believe it."

"Hmm…" She considered. "Let me know if you do anything senbon related, I'm good for that much," She offered. "Or if you want to learn a Genjutsu I guess."

Kiba laughed before she even finished the sentence. "Naruto learning Genjutsu? Good luck with that."

"Oi, shut up you're just as bad!"

"I'm not the one who got poisoned because I was fooled by a Genjutsu…" Kiba shot.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto growled. "At least I wasn't hospitalized… unlike someone who fell for a Genjutsu on our Genin test!"

"Hey! Sensei went way too far that was traumatizing damn it!"

Shikamaru sighed and gazed at Kin. "Look at what you started…"

Anko, staring at the clock one final time bid them farewell. "See you later kids…" And poofed in a cloud of smoke.

"Clone?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

Outside the steakhouse, a white robed figure's eyes widened upon seeing Anko vanish through his window view and dashed away. Bolting passed five blocks, the robed ninja took a left that lead to another, more populated street and fell into the crowd in a casual walk after performing a transformation jutsu to henge a civilian apparel.

Unbeknownst to the eavesdropper, he was not the only shinobi in the crowd that was using a henge to appear like a civilian.

* * *

"Why am I unsurprised?" Orochimaru voiced, causing a legendary pervert to cease his giggling and turn away from the TV.

"Oh, you're back."

"That is painfully obvious Jiraiya…"

Orochimaru and Itachi, still in their disguises, stood behind the couch Jiraiya and Gaara were currently occupying with Temari and Kankuro beside them. The only present kunoichi's eye was twitching rapidly as she reached for her fan. "WHAT the HELL are you watching?"

"U-Uh-Its-s-a-uhh-an educational video!" He finally settled.

"Educational? You're trying to poison my brother with this garbage!?"

Kankuro elbowed his sister. "Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if Gaara actually found some interest in girls you know…"

"I'm not involved…" Gaara declared in full monotone.

Orochimaru laughed. "Temari my dear, I assure you it's more education for Jiraiya than anyone else… He needs it."

"Oh shut up!" Jiraiya defended himself. "I don't recall you ever having a girlfriend!"

"That is because I never had one…" Orochimaru conceded. "That doesn't mean I haven't had sex. Nor does it mean I require egregious amounts of porn."

"You— Wait, did you just say you've had sex…?"

"Yes…" The Snake Sannin confirmed.

"With.. like… a girl?"

Kankuro snickered and even Itachi's lips betrayed him with an amused twitch. "Yes you fool! With a woman! _Women_ actually."

Jiraiya leapt out off the couch in excitement and started dancing. "What the hell are you doing…?" Orochimaru demanded.

"I'm sorry I can't help it! I'm so happy for you!"

"Jiraiya…"

"I mean who would've thought that you would ever—"

"JIRAIYA!"

"What?"

"Calm down… This isn't exactly news."

"It's not? When in the hell did you do it?"

"Not that I should even have to answer these questions… but if you must know I've been… ahem, _active_ for many years. I have no need to discuss such encounters."

Jiraiya squealed.

Kankuro stared on agape. "I can't believe it… I grown man, a Legendary Sannin… Is squealing in excitement that another man isn't a virgin."

"Why didn't you tell me!" Jiraiya shouted, suddenly appearing offended.

Orochimaru stared at him like he was a complete moron. "Why would I want to talk to another guy about my… private encounters?"

"Because! You just do!"

"We're not teenagers Jiraiya…"

"So what? That doesn't make details less enticing!"

"You seriously need to invest in new hobbies," Orochimaru suggested. "This is just pathetic."

"Can we _please_ move on?" Temari begged. "And someone take the remote away from him!"

Jiraiya grinned like an idiot. "Anything for you my dear!" He agreed obediently and Temari ducked for cover behind the safety of Kankuro who was still in shock that Jiraiya was _this_ bad. While they had met before departing for the Chunin exams, as they stayed here with him, he didn't spend much time there. Apparently at the time he was devoted to a mission he kept calling 'Operation Slughammer.' And at this point, Kankuro was a little afraid of what the hell that exactly referred to.

"It just got more pathetic…" Orochimaru muttered.

"Where's Baki?" Itachi finally spoke.

"Upstairs," Gaara supplied. "He hasn't come down in a long time… I think he wanted to get away from Jiraiya.

"Temari, please inform your sensei we have returned."

The kunoichi nodded at Itachi. "Sure!" And scampered off, happy with an excuse to escape the perverted eyes that were fixated on her.

"Jiraiya… How long have you been watching this?"

"Hm..? Uh let me think about that…"

"Thirteen hours," Gaara answered, watching a woman's breasts get groped on the screen with zero emotion or excitement whatsoever.

"What the kid said!" Jiraiya said, snapping his fingers.

A moment later, Jiraiya found himself thrown out of his own home. "You can't toss me out of my own place!"

Orochimaru gazed back uncaringly. "You can come back when you've done something about your testosterone levels." And with that, he slammed the door.

"Aren't you worried he might cause a big commotion that could bring us unwanted attention here?" Itachi asked.

"Jiraiya may use body parts other than his head to think half the time, but he's not stupid enough to do anything that would endanger our identity. Let's just relax and wait for him to return in a more tolerable mood," Orochimaru decided, and realized Kankuro was now staring at the screen in a slight trance.

"Kankuro…"

"Huh?" Snapping out of the daze, good thing Temari wasn't back yet from talking with Baki.

"Find the remote, would you?"

* * *

The henged ninja looked around casually, not spotting anything out of the ordinary or any sign of being followed and ducked into an alley. After waiting a few more moments, nothing happened and so he deducted that no one was on his tail. Still, a paranoid voice in his head was urging him to take the rooftop as opposed to reemerge on the main street after dropping his disguise, and that is precisely what he intended to do. That is… Until some civilian turned into the alley to join him.

"Can I help you?" He asked the newcomer with a sarcastic tone. The civilian made no reaction to his inquiry other than dropping their henge, a smoke cloud dissipating and revealing to be Anko.

And so he cancelled his own henge, the smoke revealing a scowling Tokuro Hyuga. "What do you want, Anko?"

The kunoichi's glare cut him to ribbons as she spat out a retort. "I don't think you're in position to be condescending; being the one caught red handed spying on us don't you think? Give it a damn rest."

"I don't care what you desire Anko, I know the truth! I see it! I see it and I won't lay down while the rest of the village remains oblivious."

"You see the truth?" Repeated Anko incredulously. "For someone with all this foresight and ability to see things no one else does… not to mention a Byakugan…" She stated mockingly. "You weren't even able to see me pick up on your eavesdropping."

"Oh shut up," He countered bitterly. "We both know what I'm talking about."

Ignoring him, Anko decided to explain how she was able to turn the tables on her former teammate. "I knew someone was following us all along; I didn't know who it was, but I had a short list in my head and you were at the top Toke. My Genin were debating where to eat… and I decided to choose the steakhouse for them because it was indoors. I chose a window table on purpose because if you were the spy you would refrain from using the Byakugan to watch us publicly if it was unnecessary. Then I ditched my team with a shadow clone while I was in the restroom, ordering it to dispel at a specific time."

"And I watched your clone and your team while you located and observed me in the meantime," Tokuro finished. "You were always crafty, Anko. It's a shame."

"Whatever," Anko huffed. "You know, I'm surprised you attempted that escape method when you should've known I was onto you. He taught all three of us that one… Did you forget where you learned it? Or are you really so arrogant that you didn't think I'd catch on."

"Is there a point to this senseless reminder of _him_?"

Anko licked her lips slowly and audibly. "Just as long as it bothers you Toke," Smirking away.

Tokuro was grinding his teeth in frustration. "I hate you."

"I know!" Anko grinned. "Isn't it great?" She added, playing a new card on her teammate. In truth, she was still discontent with the fact her former teammate held her in such little regard that he branded her a traitor after Orochimaru's exile. But she figured acting like a crazed lunatic that enjoyed it would be better than showing her pain.

"I'm just as bored with this banter and you Toke, so I'll get to the point already. Who were you really following? Me, or Kin?"

"A Leaf ninja doesn't give valuable information to the enemy," He replied coolly.

Anko frowned. "That's too bad, I'm afraid without a real answer to that I'll have to report your activities to the Hokage."

Tokuro's eyes narrowed on her with a wide smirk. "I am acting under the authority of Danzo Shimura, assisting in the discreet search for _sensei_ ; plea with Lord Third as you wish, it will accomplish nothing. Lord Danzo has special authoritarian privileges." And with that, Tokuro departed with a body flicker.

Left behind, Anko stared at the now unoccupied alley miserably.

 _Some day… Akatsuki will pay. For their ambitions, for wanting to take Naruto away from us, for growing powerful enough for the Hokage to resort to Orochimaru's mission of all things, to putting Kakashi in critical condition, to ruining or otherwise complicating some of my relationships with people._ It seemed like only one good thing came from anything Akatsuki related… And that was Orochimaru's fortunate encounter in rescuing Kin during some of his free time in an Earth village donning that disgusting cloak with those stupid fucking clouds. Otherwise, that organization had done nothing but fuck things up for Anko and those close to her that were somehow involved.

 _Some day…_

 ** _A/N:_** **Btw, I'd like to wish everyone a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Honestly I would've updated this sooner if not for those holidays but hey they only come around once a year no complaining XD**

 **Not exactly the most eventful of chapters and shorter than the more recent chaps but at least I covered what I wanted to hit… Kin/Team6 developments and a lil Tokuro/Anko confrontation. The Tokuro subplot is nearing closure actually, just wondering do you guys want me to keep him around or have him die? I can't divulge what I mean precisely or tell you what exactly would happen to him but if you guys want I can go either way on it. I've enjoyed his role as a minor antagonist but I don't necessarily need him for the duration of the story.**

 **So anyone really want him around that bad? Or want him to suffer a painful death? Feel free to comment on that if you want cause his future remains in the air.**


	27. Half-Interpreted Secrets

**Chapter 27: Half-Interpreted Secrets**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hey hey guys n' gals… Thank you all for hitting that 100 review mark :D and speaking of reviews… I was happy to get replies to my question about Tokuro's future. It became apparent he's not popular lol Not that he's meant to be, but I find it amusing. Still, the suggestions varied and I appreciate the input :D I've selected one of these reviews and Tokuro's future is bound by it, but I'll keep my lips shut as not to spoil the result.**

 **Also, thor94 expressed confusion about Jiraiya and why Sand ninja were there and him knowing about Orochimaru/Itachi. Quick reminder, Jiraiya has been among those who knew Orochimaru wasn't a traitor the entire time. He did NOT know about Itachi being on their side until chapter 9 or 10, same for Anko. Baki and Gaara have been hiding out at his place while Oro/Itachi were at the Chunin exams disguised as them. Where they'd been hiding was only mentioned once, so I understand why that would slip your mind.**

 **Not sure why you thought Naruto was poisoned for multiple days? Last chapter was all the same day as the preliminaries… After the loose ends were tied up in the arena they went out to celebrate. It simply hadn't worn off yet… My bad if it for some reason felt like a timeskip occurred.**

 **In your review you also talked about Naruto's strength level again so perhaps I should take a moment to address something about the Genin here too…**

 **As mentioned before, I'm adamant about realistic growth. I dislike it when damn Genin (barring canon Naruto because he couldn't take the exam during his training trip) get too strong, so I've taken my time implementing things into their bags of tricks. However, after the upcoming arc… expect everyone to get a hell of a lot stronger. Just be patient! Lol**

 **On a side note… I went back to chapter 1 and renovated it… it's about 1k words more than before but it's not like I changed it, just improved it as much as I saw fit, I'm going to need to do that to a few other chapters too. No need to go back and check up on it though as I didn't mess with it in any way that would impact you guys… But if you wanted to go for it I suppose.**

 **As for this chapter… IMO it's the best since** ** _Cinnamon Tea._**

 **Enjoy**

"Is there a point to thiss?" Kynx questioned in his usual irritated manor.

Kiba smirked up at the gigantic three headed snake, his chest heaving. "You've summoned us four times now, it's getting rather dull," Jynx agreed.

Kiba wiped sweat off his brow, maintaining the smirk. "Quit your griping already… I told you, you're helping with my training."

"Isss that sssso?" Inyx muttered. "I don't believe you require practice for the summoning jutsu at this point, Kiba."

"Who said I was practicing the summoning?"

Kynx was not happy, "If you're not, then why waste our time like this? Do you find this amusing or something you twerp?"

Kiba shook his head at the annoyed reptilians. "Work with me here… I'm trying to build my chakra reserves up!"

Jynx immediately understood, "That's what you're doing? Of course… I get it now. By forfeiting his chakra to summon us multiple times in a row he burns his chakra out as quickly and efficiently as possible…" The snake observed, gazing at the box behind the Genin that smelled suspiciously like meat. "Then, he works to replenish it immediately."

"Exactly!" Kiba nodded with a cocky grin. "After Akamaru and I enjoy our meal, I'll meditate until the chakra has replenished fully and spend an hour on Taijutsu. Then we'll take a break before heading back to the compound for our clan training."

"Impressive… I would never have taken you for the meditative type."

"I'm new to it… but I was told it's good for honing your spiritual energy. What's the point of devoting all this effort into increasing my physical energy if I ignore the spiritual half? My reserves wouldn't grow much; it'd be a waste of time all our time."

"…Does this mean you're going to do this every day from now on?"

"The Chunin exam finals take place in two weeks, Kynx. So for that long at least, yes."

"Damn it, can you at least make it the same time everyday so we can adjust our schedules to compensate?"

"What ssschedule?" Inyx laughed at his sibling mockingly. "Your asssleep half the time anyway, you just don't want him waking you, admit it."

* * *

Anko Mitarashi sat comfortably on her couch, twirling a kunai in thought. Only two weeks or so remained until the Chunin exam finals… So far, Danzo and the Foundation had yet to make a move against 'Baki.' It was unknown whether or not they were aware of the location Orochimaru and Itachi were residing, but it was also unnerving. It seemed that the Leaf village had settled into the calm before the storm, although barely anyone was aware there was something going on in the first place.

She had informed the Hokage of Tokuro's spying two weeks ago, and as Tokuro predicted, Hiruzen could not do anything. Tokuro believed that it was because Danzo commanded too much power that someone on a mission for him did not answer to the Hokage, which was foolish. The real reason, as the Hokage had explained to Anko… Was that harassing Tokuro and Danzo over the matter was risky when Lord Third and Hiashi were struggling to maintain the appearance they were working hard to find Orochimaru and discover what he was scheming while also doing their best to keep all of their tracks covered at the same time. If Hiruzen wished to discipline Tokuro, whose actions were sanctioned by Danzo and had the objective of capturing Orochimaru in mind, it would make Danzo highly suspicious. He was the embodiment of paranoia, and they weren't hitting that beehive with a stick.

Since her confrontation with Tokuro, she had not seen him, though she was constantly on guard, wary that he could be keeping tabs on her at all times. Being a Hyuga, it's not like he had to be very close to watch her and walls were meaningless. Anko tried to take other things into account to obscure his ability to watch her, such as spending extensive time in public, where he would not want to use his Byakugan. That tactic was a limited solution though, as it didn't do anything to prevent him from following her, and like most of the Hyuga clan tracking was one of his specialties… and he wasn't completely dependent on his eyes to tail someone, a fact Anko was well aware of. She _did_ know one way to ensure he wasn't watching, but it wasn't something she could do in her own house or even out on the street, so she'd been saving it for when it became a necessity to know.

She abruptly stopped twirling the kunai and let it fly without even looking, basing her aim solely on the familiarity of her living room. It sailed across the room and impaled itself in the dartboard, accurately placed in a tight gap between two others. "Hope you saw that one, Toke."

* * *

"Lord Hokage!" A Chunin approached the elderly shinobi's desk. "You wished to know if any messages came addressed to Baki of the Sand."

Nodding Hiruzen held his hand out to accept the scroll, "A little strange for the Kazekage to send a message to a Jonin whose team is engaged in the Chunin exams," The Chunin noted.

"I would appreciate it if you don't speak of this to _anyone_."

The Chunin blinked in surprise but nodded hurriedly in acceptance. "Of course, Lord Third… I had no idea this was so important," He rambled.

"You have no idea…"

After the Chunin exited, Sarutobi opened a drawer. "Did you hear?"

"Yess," The three inch long, cranky messenger snake hissed. "It's about damn time! I'm developing claustrophobia in here! I will pass this along to Lord Orochimaru…"

* * *

Officially, Jiraiya was dispatched on another classified infiltration mission the day after the Chunin exam preliminaries took place. Unofficially, Jiraiya was in the comfort of his living room, curtains shut, varying types of seals surrounding his place, seated at the dining table drinking sake with his old teammate. The Hokage felt it was a necessary lie to keep anyone from going anywhere near the Toad Sannin's premises, significantly lowering the likelihood that Orochimaru and Itachi's presence be known. Because of this, Jiraiya was getting stir crazy from being locked up in a house for two weeks. Kankuro, and Temari weren't faring much better in that regard, but Gaara, Baki and the two Akatsuki double agents seemed completely unfazed.

After witnessing the messenger snake inform them of the scroll's arrival, and its immediate departure in a small poof of smoke… All eyes fell on the pair of Sannin. "So… How are we doing this? Baki-sensei can't exactly step out the door like he belongs here," Kankuro prompted, turning his attention away from the TV, glad he had something to talk about. It was currently Temari's turn to select channel and she was into soap operas that put the puppeteer to sleep.

Itachi gave the boy a funny look. "Considering how we arrived here in the first place… That is not an issue."

"Oh right… I forgot about that stupid tunnel, I need to get out of this house! I can't even think straight anymore."

"Quit complaining Kankuro!" Temari snapped. "It's not that bad," in reality she wanted to go outside just as much as he did… but when Kankuro was shouting like that it was hard to hear what the overdramatic divas on the screen were trying to say. I mean seriously… Why did that bitch slap him like that? _Stupid brother… Why can't he be silent like Gaara for like twenty-four more minutes?_

"Me!?" Kankuro started at her incredulous. "You've been bitching about being locked up in here all week!"

"Shut up!" She hissed, turning up the volume.

"I'd be a little nicer to me if I was you sis… Or else I'll turn on Perry Summer when it's my turn!"

Gaara watched his siblings' evolving argument with indifference. It was a terrible idea to have all of them stay in the same house with only one TV. Temari and Kankuro's tastes were polar opposites and annoyed one another; Jiraiya had no interest in anything that wasn't either a sappy romance or smut… Itachi didn't care about TV, and although he watched it with them off and on he never asked for the remote or commented on any of it. Orochimaru bored the entire assembly of Leaf and Sand ninja with the history channel once… the remote was kept out of both Sannins' clutches for the good of everyone else. As for Baki, he surprisingly only cared about watching the early morning news to keep up with the stock market. Who would've thought?

Gaara on the other hand was the most neutral of all, even more so than Itachi. Gaara could watch _anything_ without batting an eye and display no emotion or reaction unless he chose to, which he almost never did. Kankuro liked to joke that it was a kekkei genkai of his, and that it was what empowered him to be able to watch thirteen hours of porn with Jiraiya straight without even caring.

"We will accompany you as far as the lab…" Orochimaru decided. "It's the only viable tunnel option available, as Sarutobi-sensei's ANBU would likely kill you immediately if you emerged from underground the Hokage mansion."

Baki nodded in understanding. "What if Danzo posted sentries there again?"

"That is the reason why we must go with you," Itachi supplied. "If there are ROOT ANBU standing guard in the area, and a Sand shinobi emerges from underground we'll start an international incident."

Jiraiya scratched his chin thoughtfully. "That means the two of you will have to head out first, and ensure the area is secure before Baki comes out."

"Can we be certain the Third hasn't placed anyone there to appease Danzo's never ending suspicions?" Itachi prompted the Sannin duo.

"No," Conceded Orochimaru. "If they aren't Danzo's lapdogs we settle for inflicting wounds or better yet your Genjutsu."

"While you're there you should have a search through your old lab… You never know, if you look around some more you may find more information about what ROOT's been doing these past few years," Jiraiya suggested, thinking about the file the Snake Sannin had snatched during their last visit to his thought to be abandoned lab.

"The Foundation must be aware it went missing the same day they lost four ANBU outside… I guarantee Danzo had some of his men extract everything important or incriminating from the lab permanently… Or at the very least as long as sensei's ANBU are snooping around looking for me."

Jiraiya's eyes downcast to his sake at the point. "You're probably right… that old bastard has always covered his bases well; hell, we were lucky to obtain that one so easily."

Orochimaru nodded, sipping the last of his drink and carefully setting the glass onto the table. "Indeed, his agents must have been overconfident no one would ever show up; it was not known to sensei that ROOT still watched over my lab."

"Interrogation is also out of the question; I tried Tsukuyomi last time and it would seem that the seals on their tongues works even in an illusion world. That would also depend on whether or not there are guards in the first place."

"Those are highly advanced seals…" Jiraiya commented, being one of the brightest sealing experts remaining in the world. "I can't even break those…" He paused, and then added, "…safely."

"How do I return?" Baki spoke up again, spinning the conversation back to the task at hand, retrieving the message from the Sand and making it back to Jiraiya's discreetly.

This was an annoying position they were in. Since it was broad daylight… they had to go to the trouble of using Orochimaru's underground tunnels to reach the lab just so Baki could head to the Hokage's tower without any chance of being spotted leaving Jiraiya's who was "officially" on a mission. Since they still didn't know whether or not the Foundation had eyes on Jiraiya's, they couldn't be certain no one was watching _right now_ , which called for all the covert measures.

On the other hand, the only way Baki could come back that didn't destroy the purpose of going that far to leave covertly… was for him to head back to the lab and use the tunnel again. Problem was… if the Foundation found corpses (assuming sentries were even there) and the Sand Jonin came back to find a new team investigating he was screwed and had no discreet way to return… and could possibly be noticed and killed.

"I suppose Itachi and I will have to remain there and wait for you."

Baki made a grunt of acknowledgement and adjusted his veil. "Very well, let's get this over with; I'm anxious to find out if Pakura's mission was a success."

* * *

Shikamaru felt a delicate hand nudge his shoulder in his slumber, causing him to groan in disapproval. "Mom I'll train later, I promise… Right now…I just want… to do this…" He struggled to sleepily explain.

Four seconds later, the pineapple haired ninja jolted awake and sat up, completely on guard. His mother NEVER went away that easy, she'd nag him to death until he wasn't able to slip back to sleep right away, forcing him to just get up and do whatever she wanted. Then he saw the problem… It wasn't his mom. Figures.

"Ino?"

"Hey," She blinked, trying to process what was going through the strangely alert Nara's head as he appeared to settle down and yawn.

"I was just taking a nap; I only got ten hours of sleep last night."

" _Only_!?" Ino deadpanned. "It's amazing you're not the weakest shinobi from our class, you know that?"

The groggy Nara smirked. "Careful Ino, as much trouble as it is… I'm in the finals, not you."

Ino hung her head in defeat at the point. "Right… I know."

"So," sighing. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

She blinked. "You said we would have lunch today, remember?"

"Everyone? Or just us?"

"You forgot!" The annoyed kunoichi shouted in an accusing manner.

"Ow, cut me some slack Ino I just woke up!" Clutching his left ear.

"Just us," She rolled her eyes.

"Would you relax? If you keep acting like this it's gonna seem like Kiba and Naruto are right."

"Acting like what?"

"Like my damn troublesome girlfriend."

"Eh? What!?" Her face flushed brightly at the implication.

Shikamaru actually blushed somewhat as well as he continued. "You showed up at my house Ino… walked into my room without knocking like you live here, woke me up as if you're here all the time and got mad that I forgot we were having lunch together today. Tell me that doesn't sound like I think it does…"

"Oh my God…" She muttered, eyes wide, mouth hung open with a hand brought up to shield it absentmindedly.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have even pointed this out…_ Shikamaru thought, regretting his action. Even geniuses make mistakes, and like anyone else… They are more susceptible to committing these errors when they're still half asleep.

"You jerk!" The angry blonde stormed out of the room, slamming his bedroom door behind her.

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the hell was that…?" _How is it my fault that she was acting like a girlfriend?_

And then he realized something else… Just like when his mother would nag him up, he couldn't go back to sleep now. _Women…_ Just as he finished that thought, the door swung open again, violently this time. It was Yoshino, armed with a rolling pin and she did not look happy.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

 _Oh come on…_

* * *

A weary looking teenage kunoichi stood in the middle of training ground thirty-five, sweating dramatically in the humid weather. "Can't we… take a break already?" She requested with a slight pant.

Her training partner relaxed his body and stashed the senbon in his hand away and snickered. "Did I get carried away again? Sorry Kin…"

"It's fine Naruto… I don't know how you do it."

Naruto shrugged and although Kin failed to notice he was quick to avert her eyes and begin retrieving some of the senbon scattered around the area. Kin wasn't aware of his prisoner yet, and he didn't want to tell her. Aside from Kiba and Shikamaru, no one his age knew about it, which for some reason comforted him. The Uzumaki hadn't even intended to let those two know about it… But that damned rogue Yamanaka just had to run his mouth off in front of Kiba, didn't he?

Fortunately for Naruto, neither Kiba or Shikamaru made a big deal out of it. For a couple guys who saw Naruto every day, it must've been easy to see him and Kyuubi as separate entities. Maybe he needed to spend a little less time training, and a little more trying to talk to civilians and let word spread around or something…

Kin slumped up against a sizable boulder and watched her teammate walk around, gathering both of their weapons. Something was bizarre about Naruto; she just didn't comprehend what it was. They'd trained together three times now during the two week span since the preliminaries ended. She just didn't understand it… He could just go on and on _forever._ His stamina was impossible! They'd start off, and she would keep up with him… Until she naturally started to tire out. Meanwhile, this guy would look ready to go another twenty rounds by the time she didn't want to even stand anymore. It was maddening!

She'd tried to train with both Kiba and Shikamaru over the last two weeks as well; she needed to be more familiar with all her teammates, not just one. Both of them had enough on their plates though; Kiba was juggling what he called 'special training' to build his chakra reserves in conjunction with a new level of Inuzuka training.

Kin's eye momentarily twitched at that recollection. _If he wants to build his reserves he should just talk to Naruto. Wait a minute…_ She then realized. _Why don't I ask him that?_ She mused, making a side note to bring that topic up.

Shikamaru didn't train with her either, unlike Kiba and his juggling of chakra reserve training and clan training… in his case it was clan training and pure laziness that kept her from doing anything with him. She had a feeling she would have to do something other than invite him to training in order to get to know him.

Naruto sat down next to her, dropping the disorganized mass of projectiles on the ground between them and checked the remaining supply on his person, counting how many he was missing. Then he sorted through the needles, grabbing the exact number of senbon he was missing, being sure not to accidently take one with a bell tied to it. "Those are yours," He said, replacing his in their pouch.

"You better not have shorted me!" She joked, picking them up and returning them to her own supply while getting the blonde to crack a smile, which was something she found easy to do.

Then, she opted to follow up with another joke. "So, get anywhere with that Genjutsu?"

Just the mention of the word _Genjutsu_ was enough to provoke a roll of the Uzumaki's eyes. "Hell no," The blonde answered irritably. "Not that it matters anyway…" She shrugged in agreement, as they discovered a way around the issue of Naruto's nonexistent Genjutsu talent.

The phrase 'I just can't' coming out of Naruto's mouth was an anomaly but it was a forte Naruto begrudgingly applied it to. There was no part of Naruto's training of which he slacked off; he always worked as hard as anyone in the village! But inevitably when he would attempt Genjutsu a proverbial brick wall would knock him back on his ass. He just didn't understand… He would be instructed on what to do; he would try it over and over and not even scratch the surface of performing a technique. There was a number reasons why he and Kiba hate Genjutsu and there was a reason why both of them wrote off the idea of learning them.

Kiba gave up on it very quickly, not having the patience for the lack of progression he made when he briefly considered adding a few basic Genjutsu to his arsenal for supporting techniques to back the team with without always being up close. In the end, it didn't work out, but he's a brawler anyway. The lack of talent within their team when it came to that particular shinobi art came to solve itself however; with Kin being transferred to their team they had a Genjutsu user other than Anko, who rarely used them.

However, Kin's insertion to the team is what lead to Naruto trying Genjutsu again. Kin had argued that Genjutsu would be the last thing expected from him because of his past struggles and that it would be a useful trump card to play in the right situation during the exams. Plus, she was the perfect person to pass something onto him… It didn't hurt that both were learning various senbon tricks, Genjutsu ones for Kin and Ninjutsu ones from Naruto. One could definitely say they were interesting complements to one another.

When they had their first one on one training session together… Kin attempted the Illusion Bell technique on him. At first, it was extremely effective, using the sound based Genjutsu to daze the Uzumaki and make it impossible for him to tell which one was the real her within the crowd of fake Kin's. But Kin had made a mistake in that spar.

She tried to play the clone game with Naruto Uzumaki…

Before the illusionary batch of Kin's could hide the real one's senbon attack within a shower of fake one's, he countered it with the multi-shadow clone jutsu, hiding in his own small crowd and charging right at them. Panicking, Kin began eliminating the clones one after another, trying to find the original, but didn't succeed as four Naruto's made it to her and lashed out at the kunoichi figures until landing a hit on her.

Though her trick failed her that time… It gave her a brilliant idea.

Naruto didn't need to pull off a Genjutsu to use her move! Why have illusionary fakes when you can make shadow clones on a whim? Better yet, his clones' needles would still strike their targets making his variation of her jutsu far more devastating. That wasn't even considering the wind chakra enhanced ones. Then there was the idea that someone who saw her move would mistake his clones for illusions and play right into his hand.

Unfortunately, after they thought about all this… They realized it wasn't useful at all in the Chunin exam finals. Sure, he could probably overwhelm an opponent that way… But it wouldn't get him promoted. Chunin-hopefuls had to _show_ why they deserved the rank. Annihilating an opponent quickly with a ridiculous shower of senbon from a gang of clones did not reveal a Genin's tact, cunning, or potential leadership abilities. To be fair about the last one… nothing about a one on one match in an arena full of nobles proved anyone could be a leader, but it was expected that the participants' strategical ability at the very least could be evaluated.

So they would set this on the shelf for a mission someday, there was plenty of other stuff for Naruto to do while preparing for the finals.

"I hate Genjutsu…" He couldn't help but say aloud, it was turning into a trend with him and the Inuzuka.

For some reason, Kin was giving him a devious grin now, unbeknownst to him making handsigns behind her back. Before he could question her, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck and his head jolted around in surprise that someone had snuck up on him like that. But that was cast to the depths of his mind once he saw who it was. "S-Sakura?" He greeted confusedly. Where in the hell did she come from? And why was she latched onto him like that, she never did that… Not even to Sasuke back when she obsessed over him. Sakura was the kind of girl who held herself in check and gave everyone space so she didn't make anyone uncomfortable… Whereas Ino was the one who would happily grab a hold of someone against their will.

" _Narrruuto…"_ A not completely accurate mimicry of Sakura's voice hummed as she prepared to press her lips against the stunned Uzumaki.

"Don't you love Genjutsu, Naruto?" Kin's cheerful voice disgraced him from a couple feet away, the illusion of Sakura slowly moving closer as Naruto instinctively leaned away from the false lips.

"Kin, this is not funny!"

"Why are you avoiding her?" Kin asked, trying to sound dismayed. "I thought you liked Sakura. _"_

 _"_ _This_ is not Sakura!" Naruto argued, accidently slipping and landing on his back, raising his feet up to stop Illusion-Sakura.

"Yeah…" Kin admitted. "That's true, but Genjutsu plays on the six senses and I can promise you Naruto that it will _feel_ like Sakura kissing you."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto hissed, struggling to keep the pinkette at bay. "Release!"

Nothing. _God damn it._ "Dispel the illusion! You're not funny at all."

"Aw that hurts my feelings, Naruto…" Kin snickered on the contrary, "Fine… I'll stop,"

Naruto momentarily sighed in relief while still maintaining his defensive position on the ground before she finished her declaration. "If you say you love Genjutsu."

"Eh? What!? The fact you can force something like THIS on me just made me hate Genjutsu more than ever before!" He denied, glaring at the beaming kunoichi.

"You know, I'm being nice right now, I made an image of Sakura to do this… Now imagine what horrors I _could_ send your way."

Naruto's eyes widened at that and his mind raced like a hamster on a wheel. What kind of screwed up shit could she do? How far would she go? If she could make an image of his crush do it, a person she barely knew at all… She could potentially make an image of anyone in the village! _Oh shit… It wouldn't even have to be a girl!_ He realized. "I love Genjutsu…" He muttered.

"Hm? What was that?" She smirked at her teammate.

"I said 'I love Genjutsu!'" The annoyed blonde reiterated with flat enthusiasm.

Kin killed the illusion and laughed hysterically. "I'll let you get away with it this time…" She paused between giggles. "But next time I won't stop until you put some effort into that statement!"

 _NEXT TIME!?_

The two began their walk back to the main part of the village in a comfortable silence; apparently their break had evolved into a lunch break. And so Naruto momentarily shunned the teasing Genjutsu touting senbon slinger from his mind to think about the other training he was working on. Anko had refused to teach any of the three during the month, so she was only good for advice pertaining to 'Possible opponents that weren't in Team Six.' Ignoring the feeling in his gut, he immediately reached out to Genma-sensei the second day after the preliminaries… and hoped the Jonin wasn't too pissy about his whole squad being eliminated in some way by Team Six even though the cases of Choji and Hinata were rather complex and it was pretty hard to say that either of them really lost to their opponents. A fact that he noticed Kiba seemed to have developed a chip on his shoulder over.

Thankfully, Genma was fine with it and Naruto was delving into a new element in his senbon Ninjutsu. Technically, it was considered Shurikenjutsu but that annoyed the crap out of Naruto. That was like saying if you throw a kunai it was considered a shuriken because it's a blade and sailed through the air. Then again… Who wants three terms for a highly similar art? If Shikamaru was hanging out inside Naruto's head, he would remind him that was just more work.

To get back on track, Naruto was in the process of learning a new element for his senbon. Wind was his chakra affinity, which is why he was started on that, and he had to further perfect his craft with that technique; (which he was doing every day in the early morning) Genma had now introduced him to the fire element and it was a good deal harder than last time he went through this process. First he had to get a hang for the Fire element… then Genma would help him use it with the needles. He wasn't really sure what to expect, since the Jonin didn't bother to show him what the senbon looked like when enhanced by the Fire element.

He could perform the Wind version… Fast, powerful, hurt like a bitch especially when struck on a pressure point. He'd witnessed (and experienced) the Lightning version; they were fast as hell, practically untraceable, and while they didn't hurt as bad as wind, (or leave the same nasty crevices in your skin) you couldn't expect to avoid them. So whoever was targeted was fated to becoming a human dartboard.

And so that begged the question. What the hell would Fire be like?

Naruto was relieved of his thoughts by the sound of Kin rapidly snapping her finger. Once she had his attention, she smirked at him the same way she had earlier. "About time… For a moment I thought I'd need to use another Genjutsu to bring you back from your quiet fantasizing."

"Fanta-woah woah woah… The only fantasizing I was doing was about training!"

"Right, whatever you say," Kin laughed.

"It's true!" He disputed.

"Ok Naruto, forgive me if I don't believe that a few minutes after I stuck a replica of your crush on you."

"Shh!" He urged. "It's hardly a secret to anyone who my 'crush' is; if someone who actually knows hears you some kind of ridiculous rumor will spread."

"My bad…" She backed off. "I'm just playing you know."

"I know… It's kind of nice actually; the only joking we have in this squad is usually either making fun of Shikamaru and Ino.. Or the competitive kind of humor, like when everyone makes fun of Shika's Taijutsu."

She stifled a laugh at that last part and chose to twist his words around. "Ah ha! You admit you liked my Genjutsu then!"

He glared in return. "I did not say that!"

"I know, but it's what you meant," She smiled.

Naruto massaged his temple. "Women…" He muttered under his breath. _Woah… I've been hanging around Shikamaru too much!_

Even Kin had to admit, it was a little uncharacteristic of her to be so playful. She was always down to make a joke or two but she'd never acted like this in her life. Something about Team Six was very relaxing. Having originated from Team Tokuro, led by an uptight Hyuga of all things… They never had the laid back attitude like her knew team. Both of her former teammates used to joke around with her, yes… But there was something different about Team Six, something better. She'd only been a member of the team for two weeks, and she already knew she was going to grow to love these people.

Anko's role in helping her when she came to the village and pieces of assistance and advice while she was becoming a ninja would always hold a place in her heart; it was her fellow Genin that she needed time for. From the moment she was transferred, all of them made an effort in their own way to reciprocate her attempts in befriending them. All of them seemed to share an attitude that they would have each other's backs; they had a special chemistry she was all too eager to be a part of.

Kiba valued camaraderie highly, it's how Inuzuka clan members are raised. Naruto had been an orphan his whole life, making this the closest thing he had to family, and Shikamaru? Shikamaru cared a lot more than he let on. She'd observed enough of the Nara to be sure of that… When Ino was unconscious after she and her lost, and Hinata was offering her healing ointment, she saw that Sakura needed help setting Ino down and he was the one to answer the call. Did he like her? Kin didn't know… but that wasn't the point. A few days after the preliminaries, he inserted himself into a situation where he actually helped prank someone, likely only because that was the idiot that cheated on Anko. In her mind, that proved he cared as much as the other two, he just didn't show it when it wasn't necessary… and enjoyed doing nothing, a lot.

Two years older than them, she was the big sister being inserted into a brotherhood. Team Six was special, and she wanted to be a component of it for as long as Lord Third would allow her to be.

* * *

Itachi and Orochimaru stood outside the doors of the lab, "Something is wrong," Itachi proclaimed, "He should've returned by now."

The two exiled shinobi shared grim, understanding looks. This was catastrophic! If Baki did not get back soon…It meant he was more than likely stopped by ANBU at some point. They could only hope it was a misunderstanding and he was taken by Sarutobi's men, or that the Hokage organized it and would be able to protect Baki that way, from Danzo and the Foundation and have the message from the Sand discreetly relayed to them and Jiraiya at some point. Realistically, that was just wishful thinking, and they knew it.

"If he doesn't arrive within half an hour… we make ourselves scarce."

Orochimaru regarded his partner with a nod, "Curse Danzo and his blasted paranoia…" _He believes Baki is me… But, he'll know the Sand is assisting us if that message as much as mentions Itachi or I._ "That old fool could start an international incident!" He spat, livid at the assumed development.

"We should have posed as two of the children," Itachi realized. "We could have been there to back him up once he was outside the village." The reason why they hadn't done that, was because they thought it would've been pointless since the Foundation wouldn't attack in public, or on the closer outskirts of the village, since Leaf sentries would rush to the battle to find out what was going on, and ROOT worked in the shadows. But this lab was a little further out… Still, the Sannin and his Uchiha companion had taken all of this into account before; they didn't believe Danzo's men would succeed with his operatives scattered across the entire village with ultimate discretion binding them from easy communication.

It was expected Danzo had men watching Jiraiya's IF they last saw Orochimaru as 'Baki,' two of the Sand siblings and 'Gaara,' enter the building two weeks ago. At that time, immediately after the preliminaries ended, there was no point in using the tunnels… Heading to the lab with ROOT operatives on their tail would've left them no other option than killing them, but if one got away Hiruzen would have no feasible argument to prevent them from taking 'Baki' into custody and that would lead to an international incident with the Sand no matter how you sliced it.

Instead, they blatantly entered Jiraiya's without knowing for sure whether or not Danzo had eyes on them — And he probably did— since there was no chance the Foundation would assault Jiraiya's right in front of the public to nab a Sand ninja the Hokage explicitly told them not to touch all because Tokuro Hyuga had a "hunch." Even Danzo's not that foolish. Other members of the Foundation were likely patrolling everywhere inside and out of the village looking for any sort of lead that would bring them to Orochimaru and unless Danzo had a Yamanaka acting as his communications officer, (Which he'd done in the past when Orochimaru had clearance in their headquarters) it was unlikely they would notice Baki in his short trip inside the village and rally a squad together to capture him on his way back to the lab.

Unlikely, but not impossible.

Baki couldn't afford running the risk of henging due to ANBU protocol. Both Sarutobi's and Danzo's were bound to investigate ANY and ALL persons suspect of using a transformation jutsu. That was a simple protocol all ANBU abided by in the event the threat level was raised to the sky and everyone was focused on finding an S-Class criminal that managed to infiltrate the village. So Baki had to take the risk of using his own appearance, hoping that if any Foundation operatives saw him, they would be unable to get a suitable squad together to take him quickly and quietly once he was again outside the safety of the Leaf's walls and vision of sentry Chunin.

"We underestimated the Foundation's small window of opportunity."

"Perhaps," Orochimaru agreed, "Or maybe he dedicated an entire squad to watching the Hokage tower…"

Itachi raised a questioning eyebrow at his partner. "Think about it," Orochimaru suggested, "This is Danzo we're talking about. He trusts almost no one, and certainly not Sarutobi-sensei."

"You believe he could get away with having a squad watching the Hokage tower? I'm not so sure about that."

"He could!" Orochimaru insisted, "He would disguise it as an extra security measure to bolster the security of the Hokage while I am thought to be in the village… Those flunkies only answer to him; he can do whatever he wants under any excuse that fits as long as it's within this village."

Itachi's skepticism faded, "You're right… Danzo can and will do anything he deems necessary." No one knew it better than the infamous man who slaughtered his own clan in supposed cold blood.

* * *

 _Hours later, in an unknown location_ …

A howl of ineffable pain echoed through the walls of a dark chamber, where a man stripped of all clothing above his waist was chained to the wall, chakra deprived and severally dehydrated. His chest was painted scarlet after the sharpest of blades acted as a brush. His skin was decorated with cuts and scabs, many ironically caused by Wind chakra, his own elemental affinity. The most fresh damage to his body however, were sizable burns across his torso that reminded the Jonin of his friend the message was about, Pakura.

"Disclose Orochimaru and Itachi's location, before the Foundation tires of your resilience," The interrogator spoke in a monotonous warning.

"Go to hell!"

Without another word, the beaver masked interrogator ripped the sword from the furnace once again. Baki cringed inwardly at the sight of it; the ANBU had reheated the blade, evident by the bright orange glow but he did not exhibit fear. The ANBU held the sword out horizontally, tilting it so when it made impact with him, it would not cut through but merely singe into his flesh upon touching the flat part of the blade. The interrogator did not even flinch as he plunged the scalding metal into his chest, sending the Sand Jonin into another ear desecrating scream.

After four loonng seconds, the blade was withdrawn and the ANBU waited for Baki to get over the worst of that phase of pain before speaking once more. "You may not realize it, but I am your only friend in this world right now," The interrogator had the audacity to say. "Unless… You honestly believe someone like Orochimaru would come to your rescue."

"And you're disguising the kindness in your heart to follow your orders, right?" Baki grunted back.

"If you insist on protecting Orochimaru and Itachi… Then you will tell me why the Sand is conspiring with them against the Leaf, I am not here to inflict as much harm on you as possible, Sand ninja… I am here to obtain valuable information for Lord Danzo in order to act in the Leaf's best interests."

Baki actually managed to chuckle in between heaved breathes of agony. "Conspire against… the Leaf? The Sand is not your enemy here."

"If that were true, you wouldn't be working with Orochimaru…"

"You assume too much."

"Then enlighten us, Baki of the Sand. We only aspire to protect our village, just as you would if it were your own," The ANBU diplomatically urged.

The beaver masked ANBU was getting nowhere with this man. Danzo and Fu would arrive as soon as they could, but it was unknown how long it could take. The Hokage would know immediately that the disappearance of Baki could only mean the Foundation made a move… Which is why they took measures to prevent intervention by the Third. The prisoner was being held in a secret hideout, a couple hours away from the village. A hideout with one purpose only… _Information gathering._

So far, the only things he'd established were: Baki is in fact _not_ Orochimaru, the Sand is working with him, and Itachi Uchiha is somehow connected to it as well.

When or how Danzo and Fu would evade the Third's wrath to come to this hideout could only be speculated, and it was imperative that ROOT's head of interrogation muster as much as possible from the Sand prisoner. Everyone talked to beaver eventually… this would be no exception.

"You're elongating your own pain, and I'm good at what I do… You haven't seen anything yet," The ANBU told him, in the same annoying monotone.

Baki knew everything that was in the scroll the Foundation confiscated. He read it before leaving the Hokage tower, and so he knew what they knew or at the least what they thought they knew. He had to admit, the ANBU before him was not jumping to unreasonable conclusions with the information he had. But Baki wasn't about to spill the truth, that wasn't up to him.

When Orochimaru and Itachi first entered the lives of him and his Genin… He trusted them as much a storm back home, but so far not a single thing they've said has turned out to be untrue. The location they gave lead to the long awaited death of Sasori of the Red Sand. The legendary puppet master was slain by Pakura, Maki and an outfit of less notable Sand Chunin. After acquiring Baki and the Kazekage's children's assistance in entering the village… They'd done nothing but communicate with Orochimaru's contact and the Hokage just as they claimed they would.

Baki didn't know why Itachi, the slaughterer of the Uchiha clan was still in some way affiliated with the village, or what that exactly meant, but he knew the Hokage was aware of his presence. The Third handed that scroll over to him, knowing all about their arrangements.

Orochimaru and Itachi were not plotting against the village, and they have yet to break their word in any way.

"You won't deprave me, I won't allow it."

The beaver ANBU replied with a slow insertion of the slightly cooled but still blazing hot sword into him this time. Not just contact with the metal but an actual insertion of the blade into his body. Baki's initial scream morphed into a rough growl at the Foundation's head interrogator. The pain was absolutely unbearable, but Baki wasn't some captured cannon fodder. He was a proud Jonin of the Hidden Sand, and he would not be bent to another village's will so quickly… Especially not some shitty organization that operates in the shadows of the rest of the village, openly defying their own Kage. "Orochimaru…And Itachi…" He began through tightly clasped teeth. "…Kept their end of the bargain, I vow to do the same for them!"

Displeased with his bravado, the ANBU pushed the blade further in, but that failed to discourage the foreigner. "I will survive your attempts to break me… through indomitable perseverance."

 ** _A/N:_** **If you got the "Perry Summer" joke with Kankuro and the TV… kudos**

 **If you were confused when Kin was thinking about Shikamaru helping out on pranking someone… that's a reference to the Omake in chapter 24. Probably not a great idea to reference an Omake since not all of you read them, but it such a damn perfect example. Oh well.**

 **Kin continues to settle into Team Six…**

 **To anyone who's wondering: Yes, Naruto will definitely have fire as his second element now that he's being introduced to it. So when he racks up a handful of Ninjutsu expect Wind and Fire**

 **And ohhh boy shit has officially hit the fan!**


	28. An S-Rank Domestic Affair

**Chapter 28: An S-Rank Domestic Affair**

 ** _A/N:_** **Yo back at it again**

 **tirthu. 8 loved the torture suggestion and as you will see… I chose to implement it thanks for the idea :) Also, don't worry about Sakura I decided not to pair them, Naruto hasn't moved on at this point of time, and she doesn't know what the hell she's doing right now lol… There is a scene to catch up with her next chapter though.**

 **As for Hinata… she will also not be Naruto's girl, sorry. Naru/Hina is the most done pairing on the site, Naru/Saku is either 2** **nd** **or 3** **rd** **with Sasu/Saku being the other (among straight pairings of course) I enjoy writing things that are rarely or never done. For example… a protagonist Orochimaru, Kin as a Leaf ninja, the way I plan to use Akatsuki, and biggest of all… what's going to happen in a few more chapters lol.**

 **I was gonna keep this tidbit to myself for awhile, cause I feel like not knowing can be interesting as a reader… but I decided to go with Naru/Kin, an especially rare pairing though not nonexistent. Pairings aren't going to come into play until the shippuden time skip though, period… 12 yr olds don't know wtf they're feeling lmao.**

 **As for Jiraiya meeting Naruto/Rasengan training… Technically they have encountered one another once before (When Jiraiya was looking to talk to Anko alone but was drunk and failing at stealth and she mistook it for him perving on her back in chapter uh…3 or 4 idr off hand) But I digress that doesn't necessarily count as meeting him. I do intend to give Naruto Rasengan though… As far as I'm concerned it's only fair that I do. Shika/Kiba got their clan stuff… Naruto has Rasengan and clones. While I am changing them all, adding things like the snake contract… each is maintaining the most important parts of their canon arsenal. However… I can promise that all three of them by the time they're Jonin will be more original than they are currently. So far all I've really done differently is give them the snakes and introduce Naruto to Shurikenjutsu…**

 **Keep in mind here… Danzo doesn't know for certain that Baki isn't Orochimaru… as he hasn't been to that hideout yet. Beaver on the other hand, obviously figured that out lol**

 **And the show must go on! LONG chapter yw Lol... 16k+ words Enjoy**

Pain… It is defined as physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury.

If that's what pain was, then Baki was enduring the Shinigami's wrath and vexation. He was still chained to the wall he'd found himself attached to after his capture and his body was steadily becoming unrecognizable. Shrouded in burns and incisions, bathing in his own blood, feeling the power of a non-lethal high level jutsu of each of the five elements first hand with no way to defend… Littered with heated excoriation knives of six centimeters in length lodged into his skin; it was remarkable the Jonin was still clinging to his 'indomitable perseverance,' as he'd called it. As for Beaver, the interrogator was becoming quite annoyed even if it didn't show through his monotonous voice. Generally… The Foundation's obscene information gathering techniques were too extreme for someone who wasn't "conditioned" to withstand the pain. And yet, this man had lasted hours defying the best of ROOT's interrogators. Fu Yamanaka was the most effective, as he had techniques to look into people's minds, and of course Danzo had his secret eye… But when it came to more conventional means, Beaver was their finest.

"The information…" Beaver prompted once more.

With weary, hateful eyes, Baki looked right at the masked warrior with what looked like a smirk, "You're wasting both our time, fool," He snarled indignantly, "This is certain to bring you war!"

"War may already be upon us, if the Hidden Sand is working with Orochimaru and Itachi it was only a matter of time."

"The Sand is not your enemy…" Baki reiterated through his grinding teeth, "You don't even understand that scroll."

Sliding a bucket of who knows what out from behind the furnace, he lifted it, approached Baki and dumped it on the prisoner. Baki winced as an agitating sensation swept over his body, it was nothing compared to the things they'd been doing but unpleasant all the same. The contact of the water and his burns made for an unwanted pain, but this he could handle… The many blades stuck into his body audibly sizzled as the cold liquid clashed with the heat.

"Make me understand then; the Foundation will not tolerate anyone who aspires to destroy the Leaf… Is your life really that unimportant to you? That you would throw it away just to stab your sworn ally in the back?"

 _Mind games_ , Baki recognized.

"Or perhaps…" Beaver started again, "You're telling the truth, this has nothing to do with the Sand, you were made an offer you couldn't refuse from Orochimaru and took it, behind your Kazekage's back."

Baki, despite the hefty amount of pain he was dealing with, managed to quickly recognize Beaver was slyly testing the waters per say to find out where his loyalty lay, the Hidden Sand or Orochimaru? Itachi's name in all of this was so out of place, Beaver decided not to even pursue that. Fu or Danzo were more… properly equipped to deal with unraveling the rogue Uchiha's involvement.

"What I tell you is meaningless, you will question it until my allegiance is proven to be tied to one side or another," Baki spat, "My devotion to the Sand will be confirmed when Lord Kazekage declares war for this betrayal!"

"Your scroll… It originated from your village; it most certainly doesn't sound like the Leaf and Sand are allies anymore to me."

Baki was determined not to divulge what he knew, not under this circumstance. It was obvious that this 'Foundation,' was out of control. He hadn't understood why Orochimaru and Itachi so callously wiped out the squad protecting the lab when they originally arrived in the Leaf, leaving his vague explanation as: ' _These aren't Sarutobi-sensei's ANBU; these one's belong to the Foundation'_ He didn't even have a clue what the Foundation was, and at the time… He had no reason to trust the Sannin or the Uchiha anyway and that incident did not help him come to terms with the notion that those two S-Class criminals were actually still working with the Leaf. But now… Now it was clear. The Foundation was a threat to its own village! Against the Third Hokage's orders, capturing a high ranking Jonin of an allied village for interrogation? Treason at best, the catalyst of the Fourth World Shinobi War at worst. But when Baki attempted to voice this point, Beaver spewed some twisted justification about acting in a way that did what had to be done for the good of the Leaf.

"Do you work for the Akatsuki?" Beaver suddenly asked, as if the possibility just came to him.

"No, and all I know of them are that Orochimaru and Itachi are members."

"And Sasori," Beaver corrected, which surprisingly was received with a cooperative nod from Baki.

The Sand Jonin was not going to back down on his vow to keep quiet about what he knew as far as Orochimaru and Itachi went… But he also had come to realize if someone didn't get him out of here, it had to be made clear that the Sand was not betraying the Leaf. Whatever remote chance of stopping a war between their villages existed had to be seized upon. If he could tell them enough to make them understand the Sand's role and get released from this hell… He a chance of preventing a war. On the other hand, if Baki were to die here or worse… never leave, a war between allied nations was imminent.

"The message insinuates that Orochimaru and Itachi made a deal of some sort with the Sand, a deal that lead to Sasori's death…"

"That is correct," Baki cooperated once more, "Orochimaru offered us information we could not refuse, that lead us to Sasori's location…"

Beaver walked around seemingly in thought, deciding that made sense but wasn't satisfied with that answer, "Orochimaru wouldn't simply _give_ you that information… What did he ask for in return?"

"My… services on a matter of importance to him," Baki vaguely described and backtracked, "The deal the Sand made with him was not on our terms! He ordered the hit on Sasori… Using the capture of myself and my Genin team that includes our village's Jinchuriki as collateral," He lied, deciding it didn't matter if they figured out what he did for them, disguising his motivation to protect their intentions with one that suited this situation.

It truly sounded like something a famous rogue ninja like Orochimaru would do… Have a fellow member of the organization he was apart of eliminated by the village he originated from without a trace to lead back to him for whatever reason he wanted it done for, coercing the village into doing his bidding and trusting his intel by holding the Kazekage's children (and Jinchuriki) hostage. For such a plan to work, the Sand would have to be unaware of Akatsuki's goals, or Orochimaru could never be trusted to return the Ichibi but Beaver kept that to himself.

"If Orochimaru is holding you hostage, you wouldn't have a desire to protect him."

"Fool," Baki growled, "If Orochimaru believes I've given one of his biggest enemies information he could kill them! Or even worse… Release the onetail on one of our villages!" Okay seriously, coming up with all of this on the fly… Baki was earning a damn vacation for all this.

"I can't tell you what they're planning… Out of loyalty to my village and my Kazekage, to protect those brats. And to do that… I must protect Orochimaru and Itachi, so go ahead and stab at me some more… I won't betray them!"

Beaver shook his head in an almost amused fashion, "I'm expected to believe this? All you could do was tell me how your capture would bring about war, and now you suddenly are telling me the Sand was manipulated by Orochimaru to kill Sasori and you're just protecting your Genin. You're a pitiful liar for a ninja."

"My capture _will_ bring about war," Baki's eyes steeled, "You spend so much time in this chamber making people talk, that you fail to consider the politics! Do you honestly believe the Hidden Sand will admit they ran an errand for Orochimaru because their Jinchuriki was captured?" Baki almost laughed.

"I guarantee the Sand will nail Sasori's wooden head to the wall of the Kazekage's office as a trophy and market the accomplishment for revenue and clients! We're already depicted as the weakest of the five currently… How do you think we'd look if we announced to the world that we only got him because a former Leaf ninja took our Jinchuriki hostage? And let's not forget, my disappearance could bring about the death of my team at Orochimaru's hand to protect his own interests… Which will be blamed on the Leaf. Why? Because it would mean the Leaf failed to protect their ally's Jinchuriki in the time of the Chunin exams, and also because Orochimaru CAME from the Leaf."

"On the other side…" Baki continued, "If Orochimaru decided to release the Ichibi on your village, the Sand's Jinchuriki! Who knows what political motivation will lead to who the blame is damned to."

Beaver was silent, he hated to admit it… But he truly couldn't spot a single part of Baki's story and predictions that made no sense or failed to connect perfectly. His meticulous thoughts, taking apart the Sand ninja's story and dissecting it were broken by a sudden cringe of discomfort from the prisoner. "The poison is taking effect," Beaver commented, "That water I dumped on you," He elaborated, "Contained many chemicals that have… undiplomatic relations with your burns. Soon you will be in too much pain to talk, so I will take a break now…" The ANBU left the room, leaving the Sand shinobi in solitude, his improvising was flawless, every point he made was solid and detailed. Perhaps he had a chance walking out of here and eluding war after all?

* * *

Orochimaru licked his lips in some sort of twisted delight, "That's the last of them." Itachi refrained from responding verbally, as a pair of crows emerged from the trees in the background, landing on his arm awaiting orders.

The Sannin stepped over the deceased Foundation shinobi's body and stood by his partner's side, "A bold move from an old fool…" He mused.

Once the exiled duo knew without a doubt that something happened to Baki they took action. The Hokage dispatched every ANBU he had in the village, entrusted with the task of finding the village elder. It became evident that Danzo had left the village itself, and unfortunately due to the seals on ROOT ANBU's tongues (All ROOT ANBU stationed within the village had been detained) they couldn't divulge any useful information on his whereabouts. Foundation headquarters had been stormed, only to find neither Danzo nor Baki.

Unfortunately for Danzo, the Third Hokage wasn't a fool. Just because Danzo had vanished without a trace, and not one of his subordinates were capable of communicating viable means of tracking him didn't mean the Leaf were incapable of finding him. You can cover your tracks all you want… You can practically erase any sign that you exist… But you can't destroy scent, though it is possible to distort it or mask it to some degree. The Hidden Leaf just happened to have an entire clan of shinobi that specialized in tracking people's scent, and they were definitely going to abuse that advantage. Enlisting both Inuzuka clan members within his ANBU roster, Hiruzen Sarutobi was leading a mission for the first time in years to bring back the elder by any means necessary, breathing optional.

His team officially consisted of himself, the two Inuzuka's (one tracking Danzo's scent, another tracking Baki's) Asuma, and Yugao. Unofficially, he had two rogue ninja involved in this operation. Outfitted in typical masked ANBU uniforms, Orochimaru and Itachi were (somewhat) openly involved in the mission. Since Asuma and Yugao were aware of who they were working with, but the two Inuzuka's were not… They had to refer to them as Snake and Barracuda. When the Inuzuka's questioned who the newcomers were, as every member of Sarutobi's ANBU knew one another as well as every mask's true identity. Asuma told them they were called upon by Sarutobi for a one time thing and it was just to protect their identities from the chance of political backlash given it was possible they may return with a cane and a corpse in bandages with a sling. There was no telling how much the Hokage would be able to tell the village about this yet, and that made predicting the village's reaction —particularly the council—very difficult if the mission came to Danzo's demise. In Itachi's time in ANBU, there had been no members of that clan, so they had no familiarity with his scent. For good measure though, he was wearing a different mask than in his original tenure.

Eventually, following the scents left behind, it was discovered that Danzo brought a sensor with him judging by a team of ROOT ANBU's pitiful ambush attempt. In their defense, getting the drop on the Third Hokage, a couple S-Class criminals and a group of ANBU was almost impossible. It didn't help that two of the ANBU could literally smell them as they hid. After they drew the Foundation operatives out of hiding, the Hokage ordered Snake and Barracuda to handle them as he and the others pushed on. Obviously, the ROOT squad wasn't going to simply _allow_ that, but they had no clue who they were up against…

The squad leader was smart; he knew they would lose this battle if they stupidly made their objective to defeat the Hokage and his team. Instead, upon acquiring the knowledge two of the ANBU were Inuzuka clan members, (based on the Taijutsu moves put on display before they departed) he told his squad their primary objective was to eliminate the both of them, and their hounds… That way Sarutobi's way of tracking Lord Danzo would be gone and their mission to prevent him from reaching Danzo or the interrogation hideout would be a success. First they would gang up on the two ordered by the Hokage to defeat them, using their numbers advantage of eight to two and then go after the Inuzuka's.

Danzo had already changed to the alternate route to the hideout, in case they failed; the Foundation had a plan for everything after all. If the Inuzuka's were killed off, the trail would run cold for certain. The problem was… They ran into the buzz saw that was Itachi and Orochimaru and now lied in pools of their own blood.

"Let's move."

* * *

"Lord Hokage, we're gaining on them!"

"Them?" Asuma questioned.

"Yes," Timberwolf answered, "There are multiple scents including Danzo's moving at a slightly slower pace than we are."

"Cat?" The Hokage beckoned, Yugao in return nodded in confirmation, she was the group's sensory specialist among other things.

"Danzo and two others," She claimed.

"What about Baki's scent?" The Hokage turned his head to Jackal.

Jackal turned his head to face the Hokage as he spoke, "We still seem to be going the right way; I think it's safe to bet you were right sir, Danzo is heading to wherever Baki is being held."

"Good… Then perhaps there's a chance we can put a stop to this, if we do not find Baki… the Fourth World Shinobi War will commence," Lord Third stated in the most serious voice anyone had heard from his lips. The war hardened tone suggested he were twenty years younger, and a lot less grey.

"Any Sand Jonin being captured and interrogated by the Leaf would lead to war… And Danzo chooses to do it to the Kazekage's children's sensei…" He shook his head disdainfully, though leaving out the part about Danzo suspecting he was Orochimaru.

"For someone who's always obsessed with acting in the Leaf's best interest, he sure has his shit ass backwards this time!" Timberwolf concurred.

"Put that out will ya!" Jackal shouted at Grizzly, annoyed with the distraction of his cigarette interfering with his nose.

Asuma sighed, why did tracking their scent have to be the only feasible option? "Fine," The ANBU captain relented, stopping somewhere and smashing it into the ground with an annoyed expression hidden behind his mask. Feeling his agitation, Yugao had to stifle an amused chuckle.

* * *

"Jiraiya! What is the meaning of this! Summoning us like this… of all the hours to choose?"

"Oh, good you old geezers are finally here!" Tsunade smiled in mock appreciation at the two elders.

"Such blatant disrespect…" Koharu murmured, "This younger generation."

"I hardly believe we still count as the younger generation," Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

He instantly regretted it when Tsunade back him across the head, "Speak for yourself!"

"To answer your question Homura, we called for you two because Danzo went missing about the same time as a Sand ninja by the name of Baki, whom he was suspicious of. I don't think I need to point out the obvious danger of his actions; what do you know?"

Koharu and Homura shared a look with one another momentarily, much to the irritation of Tsunade. "We are aware that Danzo was lead to believe that Baki is in fact your old teammate."

Jiraiya nodded in confirmation, "Yes, that's what Tokuro Hyuga told him. The problem is… Baki _isn't_ Orochimaru, and this whole escapade is going to cause us an international incident if we don't straighten it out right now!"

Homura narrowed a disapproving glare on the white haired sage, "Danzo would not take such a risk without solid intelligence."

"I would think the two of you… Of all people, would know what Orochimaru is capable of. Are you really underestimating him? He could be using his Facial Copy jutsu to pose as the Sand ninja for all you know," Koharu undermined.

"Tokuro has presented that suspicion; we're not being ignorant! We just know our teammate better than either of you. He does nothing without a reason… What purpose would a bastard like him have to attend the Chunin exams and _not_ make an attempt to steal the Sharingan, Byakugan or Naruto's… prisoner?"

"Is that so?" Homura challenged, "If you know him so well, why were you oblivious to his… activities?"

"I wasn't in the village!" Tsunade quipped, "Jiraiya is rarely around either from what I hear, so you can take that garbage and—"

"Tsunade," Jiraiya interrupted, "Ignore it, we need their help… Don't get off track."

"Hmpt… Whatever," She backed down, taking a swig of her bottle much to the annoyance of the two elders.

"Now that you mention it, Jiraiya was not supposed to be in the village until about two weeks from now," Homura commented, "And what do you mean by: 'Our help'?"

Ignoring the mention of his reappearance from the 'mission,' he was supposed to be on, "Sarutobi-sensei assembled a squad of ANBU and are pursuing Danzo and Baki's scents; he left me in charge before they took off. For all intents and purposes until sensei returns… I'm Hokage," He smirked, "You'll do whatever I need you to do or face insubordination charges and be locked up somewhere in T&I."

The elders glared at the Sannin in response to his threat but did not cower, "You would abuse power so casually?"

"It's not abuse," Jiraiya fired back, "Like it or not, I'm in command. And I'm going to do everything in my power to stop a war… No matter what that does to me politically."

"Very well, what are our 'orders' then?" Homura inquired in a sarcastic, loathing tone.

"Create a map with every Foundation hideout on it."

"What!?" The elders cried in outrage, "We aren't privy to that information Jiraiya… We are not apart of Danzo's organization, only supporters."

"And why should we believe that?" Tsunade backed up.

"Do what you will with us…" Koharu stated.

After giving them a long stare, Jiraiya had a better idea, "Then convince someone who can…"

"The Foundation uses a seal that—"

" _We know_ ," Tsunade groaned, "But that only prevents them from speaking of Danzo, not the hideouts. Someone who they trust, someone who Danzo trusts… They may be willing to divulge the information to," Seeing where Jiraiya was going with it.

"You will need to come up with a viable reason for asking though," Jiraiya added, "Given the situation, that could be difficult… You're dismissed."

Koharu and Homura left in a huff, to both Sannin's amusement. Once they were gone, Jiraiya let out amused laughter, "That was great! Maybe becoming Hokage wouldn't be so bad…" Taking those two down a few pegs was fun.

"Why did you ask them to get information of all the hideouts and not just the one that matters?"

"I don't think they'll get anything at all," Jiraiya admitted, "But targeting the hideout we're looking for would only warrant suspicion."

"Trying to obtain this information at this time of the night while this is all going on _is_ suspicious…"

"I know, which is why I doubt it will work."

"Then why did you—Oh, you wanted to wake them up and give them a mission they're sure to fail."

"It will make for a beautiful blemish on their records," The Toad Sannin grinned but then got serious, "Actually, I was just hoping they would know something we didn't," He admitted. "If sensei and his team reach Danzo before he gets to their hideout… we still won't know where it is, only the general direction."

"They might have been lying," She scoffed.

"True, and that's why I gave them that mission; considering they're retired, I'm surprised they didn't put up more of a fuss."

* * *

"Lord Danzo! They're on our heels… Two of the pursuers have dwindled," Fu Yamanaka reported, sensing the Hokage's group gaining on them.

"Only two…" Danzo murmured, stopping and turning around, his bodyguards doing the same. _Just who did you bring Hiruzen?_ The ANBU he left behind were by no means expected to take on the Third Hokage of all people, but they could've bought more time then this… and he thought more than two of Hiruzen's ANBU would've at least suffered a significant injury.

"Fu, Torune… Support me, I'm going to prepare my arm," He ordered, acting in kind.

The bodyguards acknowledged their leader with obedient nods but nothing more, stepping in front of him defensively as they waited on the other group. "Fu," Torune broke the silence, "How many of them are coming?" He inquired.

The sensor paused as if double checking before making a reply, "Five."

Torune was pleased with those odds, he and Torune were the most elite ninja in all of ROOT and they should be able to handle four ANBU. The troubling thing was the presence of the Hokage, that was something he did not feel confident in. However, a mission has presented itself, and they would fulfill it. If it cost them their lives, hopefully it resulted in the success of the mission and Lord Danzo would be enabled to crack down on Orochimaru's plans.

It didn't take long for the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to arrive on the battlefield armed in his old fashioned shinobi armor, flanked on both sides by ANBU, "Danzo! Cease this madness this instant!" He demanded, peering beyond his old rival's flunkies as he made some kind of concealed adjustments to himself under the cover of his clothing. Whatever Danzo was doing, was probably not good for them if Hiruzen were to wager. There was simply no telling what kind of secrets the man hid about even his own abilities.

"Hiruzen," Danzo greeted coldly, "Your armor reflects your idealism… Outdated."

"So it's really come to this has it?" Hiruzen reflected sadly but the iron determination in his eyes did not waver, "This is treason you know."

"But it wasn't treason when Orochimaru attacked my headquarters after spying on me within my own organization for years?" Danzo sneered.

Asuma's face, though hidden by the grizzly mask, contorted into complete disgust, "It was _definitely_ treasonous to kidnap children and experiment on them."

"In pursuit of power," Hiruzen added, shaking his head, "That is how low you've stooped my old friend, regardless of _why_ you did what you did then, and why you're taking the actions you are right now."

Danzo's visible eye managed to grow even colder as he returned their distaste for the situation, "This has nothing to do with power you old fool; this is about combating a threat properly before your kind hearted mercy forces us to cut our losses once more! This is about making the Leaf more powerful! The only way to assure peace is to be undisputed as the strongest nation in the world!"

"If you don't release Baki… From whatever you're doing to him, we're going to have a war on our hands," Yugao now interjected.

"War would've resumed long ago if it were not for _me_ ; blinded by the Will of Fire, you all fail to see the big picture when it comes to the security of this village! Orochimaru came here for a reason, and I don't believe he's left yet… Tokuro's suspicion is strangely the only decent lead my ANBU have to investigate and we're doing just that."

"And at what cost! You are wrong Danzo… Orochimaru is not Baki! You're starting a war with our own ally!"

The Shimura gazed back accusingly at the active Hokage, "Enough of your deceit Hiruzen! You've been playing games with me since the moment Orochimaru's presence was known…"

"I fail to remember a time you weren't playing games, Danzo," Asuma chimed.

Tugging away the bandages concealing his second eye, Danzo stepped forward while everyone else momentarily forgot to breathe, "A Sharingan…" Yugao muttered in disbelief, awed by the revelation of a red tomoe irradiating the night.

Hiruzen grit his teeth impatiently, "You're even worse than I thought… How long have you possessed _this_? Did you salvage it way back during the massacre?"

"Just before it," Danzo answered truthfully, "This one belonged to Shisui… I've had a few others over the years."

If the Hokage and his team weren't already alarmed that he had a Sharingan without anyone knowing, they were _really_ alarmed now. Hiruzen silently wished Itachi (assuming he knew) had bothered to share this information with him, but figured the two Akatsuki spies assumed if any attempt on Danzo's life were to be taken; it would be done by them rather than the Hokage. Still, being caught by surprise and enduring the pain of reopened wounds from the massacre were most unpleasant. Then again, who was he to feel that way? If he felt bad about those memories… He couldn't imagine how Itachi must've felt.

"This is the end of your reign Hiruzen… It's time for the Fifth Hokage to claim his village."

Jackal couldn't help but snort at the idea, "And who's going to support you getting the title after you kill all of us? Lord Third isn't exactly a hated figure."

"I'll simply pin your deaths on Orochimaru."

 _The man I knew is dead; I've known this for a long time… And yet I can never get used to it._ Hiruzen thought grimly as he brushed his feelings aside, fully prepared to do what his student believed he should've done long ago. Kill Danzo, "You're right about one thing my old friend, I am too soft sometimes… It's clearer now than ever."

Biting the tips of his gloves and yanking on them, Torune Aburame removed his gloves and revealed the violet skin tone of his hands, confusing everyone but the Third, "Do not let him touch you," He advised, "He's of the Aburame clan… He contains microscopic insects that will be the death of you if he can make contact and insert them into your system."

"What about the other one?" Asuma probed.

"Yamanaka clan, he's skilled but he doesn't possess any unusual ability that I'm aware of," Hiruzen provided.

With that, all became still. The night critters suppressed themselves, sensing something was wrong. The woods had just become a dangerous place, and every animal could feel it and either took refuge or bolted for a safer environment. Danzo and his bodyguards had their backs to the moon, which was illuminating the clearing… A gift to some of the shinobi, and an annoyance to the two Inuzuka and Danzo who would have a slight advantage in total darkness. Fu and Torune shared a look, knowing Danzo was not quite finished unsealing Shin's arm… And with a nod, bravely made the first move.

"Keep the Aburame one at a distance! I'm not letting him stick those things in me!" Asuma barked at his subordinates, preparing a jutsu of his own.

Torune and Fu had drawn on their tantos, charging at the group head on. Timberwolf made a mental note to try and get close to Fu, as the Yamanaka clan was generally not the best of Taijutsu users. Yugao unsheathed her katana and moved towards the ROOT duo intending to intercept Fu, deciding it was wise for her to focus on the Yamanaka if she was going to attack from in close and avoid Torune's bugs. The purple haired Kenjutsu specialist expertly blocked a flurry of tanto strikes from both men before one continued passed her.

The one who moved on happened to be Torune, who ducked to avoid a wave of shuriken as he closed in on Jackal with his tanto. Before he could get close enough however, Asuma unleashed his Fire jutsu, which appeared to overwhelm Torune's figure only to reveal a scorched piece of wood, "Shit," Asuma muttered, looking around for the dangerous Aburame.

Yugao slashed at Fu, the Yamanaka was forced to swerve his upper body out of the way of Yugao's katana and reached out at her wrist with one of his hands. Luckily the Uzuki happened to be a sensor, because her opponent's bizarre and feeble attempt to grab her wrist may have been ignored had alarms not gone off her head that his chakra wasn't normal. Backing away from his range of extension, she slipped by and kicked her foe away, dispelling the henge to reveal he was actually Torune. She isolated the one that _was_ dangerous up close, damn it. _They took on one another's appearances before we arrived… I should've noticed that!_ She berated herself for being ignorant of her senses. She'd focused too much on Danzo and allowed one of the most basic tricks in the book nearly get the drop on her.

Unlike the ANBU captain, locating a hidden enemy is one of the specialties that comes with being an Inuzuka, so after sniffing Fu out (literally) Timberwolf dispersed smoke bombs, "Scatter!" He warned after seeing Fu aiming one of his clan's jutsu at the Hokage who took advantage of the chaos to go straight for Danzo.

Finally finished unsealing the gauntlet, he tossed aside currently unnecessary bandages, revealing his augmentations to the world for the first time. This act caused Hiruzen to halt his approach and gawk. Danzo's arm was extremely pale, with an array of Sharingan stored along it for some twisted purpose he was sure, "Danzo…What have you—"

"It is of no importance to you now, but these are the improvements I've made on myself for the Leaf." Hiruzen was speechless, how could his one time friend do something so disgusting? It was an insult to every Uchiha that ever served the village!

As much as Hiruzen wanted to express his outrage, he had to set it aside as Danzo was through talking. Watching Danzo inhale a deep breath, the elder Sarutobi on the battlefield's eyes widened and he maneuvered himself in the air to avoid Danzo's Vacuum Wave. Multiple trees behind him were diced by the jutsu, causing them to timber, one of which was narrowly avoided by Torune.

Leaping over the fallen tree, Yugao attempted to behead the ROOT operative who dodged the initial attack and brought his tanto up to parry the Uzuki's follow up assault. When the tables turned and Torune had the better position to strike, she leapt back, playing the upper hand she held in the range of her weapon. _One of his hands… is normal now._ She observed, now noticing that one of his hands was of his proper skin tone and the other was the sickly purple. Movement from behind the bushes caught her by surprise as a second Torune emerged, running straight for her.

 _Insect clone._ She guessed and countered with a clone trick of her own, producing a pair of shadow clones. "Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!" She announced as her and the replicas targeted the opposing clone without mercy. Torune's clone blocked the first Yugao's sword and managed to dispel it with a kick but had no chance of escaping the perfectly synchronized attack pattern followed up by the second and third.

When the katanas cut through the clone, the real kunoichi immediately distanced herself, remembering what the Hokage said about the bugs being microscopic and not wanting anything to get on her. Her shadow clone stayed there, for the purpose of testing the theory, and sure enough she screamed after a moment of pain and dispelled after a purple color emerged on one of her legs. The original Yugao sighed in relief; she wasn't going to get close to one of those clones again. Meanwhile, Torune reappeared where his clone was regenerating and placed his white hand on it, extracting the bugs back into his system.

Puffing Wind chakra onto each of the shuriken, Danzo shouted "Wind Style: Vacuum Blades!" And sent the volley at his rival.

The Hokage was making handsigns before Danzo even finished preparing his, "Fire Style: Conflagrating Shuriken!" Hiruzen bellowed, casting a barrage of the projectiles engulfed in Fire chakra.

Each shuriken intercepted one another, Fire naturally prevailing. The Vacuum Blades were diverted across the area, trashing the landscape with their power while the Conflagrating Shuriken each had still been knocked off their intended course and set a few different trees ablaze.

Danzo closed in on Sarutobi, a kunai finding its way into his hand, but Hiruzen formed a single seal for the Earth Flow River jutsu, the ground beneath the Shimura's feet abruptly turning to mud ruining his advance. Meanwhile, the Hokage made a tactical retreat while rummaging through some more handsigns with Danzo in pursuit shortly after. By the time the treasonous elder caught up, he was no longer standing before only Hiruzen, but now Monkey King Enma as well, "Sarutobi…" Enma greeted, shooting a confused look at Danzo —or rather, Danzo's arm— and snarled, "So it's finally happened."

Hiruzen said nothing to Enma, keeping his old threatening eyes locked on his rival, "This is your last chance, bring us to Baki and release him!"

When Danzo said nothing in return except glare at the Hokage and his summon, Hiruzen brought out his trump card, "You're probably wondering what happened to a file you left in Orochimaru's old lab…" Danzo's eyes flickered with surprise for only a second before returning to the previous state of glaring, "I have it, and I've made copies onto scrolls… Perhaps I can attempt to gain prestige with the other great nations by admitting a branch of our ANBU—"

" _No!_ You FOOL! This is why I must become the Fifth! You will be the death of this village Hiruzen!"

Ignoring the Shimura's interruption… "Unless you release Baki right now."

"That you would even conceive doing that… Is proof you must be _relieved of your duty_ ," Danzo dryly declared.

Well that wasn't the effect the Sarutobi was looking for… The threat of showing the other four great nations an act of good faith by admitting some of the things Danzo was planning in the near future that were to take place in their own countries as well as stopping the Foundation's moves was a hefty one. There was no way to tell how much the other nations' reactions may differ, and it was certainly not good for Danzo who would lose supporters in the Leaf. The less political support Danzo had the more power Hiruzen had.

Contrary to popular belief, a Kage does not hold absolute power in their village. They must have the backing of their followers and maintain support of the civilian and shinobi councils. While it was true that the Hokage could come out tomorrow and order the death of Kakashi Hatake, a lot of people would pretty pissed off about that, and he would lose a massive amount of support. Those who abuse power face the hanging threat of a revolution, and that was the issue with stopping Danzo.

Disbanding the Foundation out of the blue to make things easier for Orochimaru and Itachi wasn't an option, because people would've demanded answers. The only time Hiruzen ever had the opportunity to rid himself of Danzo and the Foundation was when they busted the Wood Style experiments, and he chose not to siege on it. Had the village known what Danzo and his people did… the capture of those kids, and the expected death ratio…Well, let's just say people would've been eager to see Danzo's head chopped off. Instead, it was brushed under the rug, and the support between Hiruzen and Danzo was almost fifty-fifty. Much of the war hardened generations were critical of Sarutobi's 'basking in the peace.' Danzo's popularity outweighed his with those generations, while the younger ones loved Hiruzen and most were unaware of who Danzo Shimura even was.

That's not to say Hiruzen didn't have respect, he most certainly did… But there was a divide between the entire village over the way he chose to operate in times of peace; many wanted to militarize like that of the Hidden Cloud, but Hiruzen would have none of it.

Enma transformed into the Adamantine Staff and landed in Hiruzen's hands as a battle that was many decades coming was about to go down. Danzo grit his teeth as he made use of Hashirama Senju's cells, creating a long, sharp weapon of his own to counter Enma.

 _That's Wood Style…_ Lord Third realized. _So even after all we did to his organization he continued on with the experimenting behind under our noses!_ The Third's resolve reached an unprecedented level since the last war… _This ends today!_

* * *

 _How far were those two lured out?_ Asuma thought, listening carefully to the sounds of battle to try and join the fray to back up Jackal and Timberwolf against that Yamanaka. Working his way through the brush created by Danzo's Vacuum Wave he came across those he was looking for, but not in the way he expected, not in the least. Timberwolf was lying in a pool of his own blood with a tanto in his chest, but it wasn't Fu's tanto…

Noticing Asuma's presense, Jackal lashed out at him with the intent to kill. The Sarutobi clan member restrained the Inuzuka by grabbing his arms but Jackal was physically stronger. He pushed Asuma back until he had the ANBU captain pinned against the tree, "Snap out of it! You've fallen prey to his clan techniques!" He shouted uselessly.

The Mind Destruction jutsu was a special Yamanaka move that allows the user to send their chakra into the subject's nervous system and essentially hijack their body to do as they please with it. He'd seen it done before a few times; one mission in particular, they'd been outnumbered four to one but Inoichi masterfully turned the tide of battle around with the same jutsu Asuma was ninety-percent sure was being exhibited right now.

Asuma grit his teeth as Jackal's body was being commanded to draw a kunai but he was making it hard on the Yamanaka's pawn, holding tightly onto his ANBU comrade's arms trying to come up with something on the fly. He didn't even know where Fu was… Unexpectedly, Jackal's head crashed into Asuma's, having been willing by Fu to perform the unorthodox move just to daze Asuma long enough to retrieve a kunai from Jackal's supply.

Evading Fu's attempt at jamming a kunai into his head using his human puppet, Asuma slipped out from the tight spot he'd been in between Jackal and the tree, pulling his chakra blades out and engaging his hijacked subordinate. _I don't want to kill him, damn it!_ Asuma struggled, exchanging blows with his comrade.

 _He's wasting my chakra._ Fu thought, throwing a well aimed kunai at the exposed Sarutobi only to watch someone else's projectile intercept it. For a moment, his eyes widened slightly but urgently tried to relocate before his exact position could be compromised but after jumping just one branch, the newcomer landed right in front of him wearing a snake mask, chuckling, "Now now… No need to be so hasty."

Sensing an approach from behind, Fu narrowly managed to avoid a nest of snakes by diving off his branch to the ground. Caught up in midair, Fu was helpless to avoid the Snake's devastating kick that hurled him into the ground, shattering the surface like that of a mirror. The ANBU landed beside him and placed his hands on the ground. The Yamanaka scrambled to his feet but it was too late, the earth emerged from the ground and surrounded him, forming a dome. "Earth Style: Earth Dome Prison," The voice concluded from outside.

Fu, not one to be deterred that easily, slapped every paper bomb he had on him on one side of the prison and ignited them. The hole generated closed so quickly Fu had to retract his hand before it got squashed.

 _I'm sorry Lord Danzo… I've failed._

"Nice handiwork," Asuma commented, approaching the dome, "Jackal is unconscious from Fu's jutsu… But he should be fine. Unfortunately, that bastard used Jackal to kill Timberwolf," He described for Snake, in a grim, saddening tone.

"I see…" Orochimaru replied, "Sorry I wasn't here sooner."

Asuma shook his head, "I _was_ here and I didn't even see how it happened."

A moment of silence passed between them, before they were reclaimed by reality. Fu was apprehended, but the mission was far from over. "Take over for me," Orochimaru commanded of his clone, who had been the one to use the snake jutsu from behind Fu earlier. The clone approached the dome and placed its two pale hands on it, relieving the original of that duty as he turned to Asuma,

"Lead the way, _captain_ ," The Sannin ordered with a hint of amusement. The son of Orochimaru's sensei rolled his eyes behind his mask and did as he was told.

* * *

A deep purple toxin in the form of smoke dissented in the air upon contact between Torune and the lethal sword. _What?_ Was the Uzuki's only thought before Torune's whole body dispelled, leaving a cloud of the poison behind. Smart enough to slip her hand under her Cat mask over her mouth and hold her breath, Yugao leapt backwards a few times, observing the area awaiting a follow-up attack from the original.

 _So he can make two types of clones, both extremely dangerous ones._ She noted, trying to sense the Aburame. It was rare for any one shinobi to have more than one type of solid clone. In the Leaf it used to be extremely common… before the Uchiha massacre, simply because they wound up copying an enemy ninja's jutsu in the field. A Chunin or Jonin ranked Uchiha without at least three or four clone types would just be strange, especially those who fought in the wars, she could remember when a ton of Uchiha were using Rock Clones in the Land of Earth.

Torune's clones were special however, neither were elemental… And both were extremely dangerous. Insect Clones were known to be able to regenerate, and since all his had to do was make contact with their opponent to win… It could be a serious problem if Torune could manage a way to corner her. This Poison Clone on the other hand… She would be willing to bet all it would take is a whiff of that to either sedate or kill her, depending on what kind of toxin it was. She didn't want to allow Torune's deadly abilities to get that close to her again, that was the second time she came close to biting the big one from the remains of a clone.

The sound of someone landing on a branch behind her drew her attention, reflexively turning her head back and in Torune's eyes… distracted. _Now_ The Aburame decided, honing in on her position from underground using the Headhunter jutsu. Moving as stealthily as he could, the ROOT operative made it to where the kunoichi was standing and latched out onto her legs, pulling her under and emerging on the surface himself. She struggled but it was futile, all it would take is one touch to her face to end this… But when he reached out to do just that, her figure burst into a bunch of frantic crows.

"What…?" Before he could piece anything together, he was ripped from the Genjutsu by the pain of black flames engulfing his body.

A few meters away, standing on a branch were Yugao and the newly arrived Barracuda, "Wasn't that a bit much? Doesn't that jutsu took a lot of chakra?"

Itachi watched the man burn like an old dried out piece of wood, "I wanted to be sure that all of the insects were extinguished; there's no better way."

* * *

Thrusts between Hiruzen's Adamantine staff and Danzo's wooden bayonet staff clacked forcefully. The skill and precision at which the pair of elderly shinobi was not shocking, but the strength the two retained at this stage of their lives was impressive. Hiruzen brought the staff down on him fiercely but Danzo's guard was up, holding his bayonet with two hands to parry the strike. Having a hard time holding the Hokage at bay, Danzo inhaled air for another jutsu.

Unleashing it from point blank range, the Wind Style jutsu cut Hiruzen's form to ribbons, a liquid splattering everywhere. If not for the Sharingan, Danzo probably would not have noticed it was mud rather than blood in the darkness of the night. Realizing his rival had substituted a Mud clone; he whipped his head around, and saw the Adamantine staff rapidly expanding towards him just in time to propel himself into the air with another Wind jutsu in evasion.

Seeing this, Hiruzen swung the staff upwards, forcing Danzo to maneuver his body out of the way while Hiruzen darted towards him and prepared to use a Fire jutsu while the Adamantine staff transformed back into Enma who grabbed onto a tree. Finding himself in a compromised position as the Sarutobi closed in before his feet touched the ground; he rushed the few handseals he needed, his eyes betraying no emotion.

"Fire Style: Eternal—"Hiruzen's voice cut itself off as he thrust his fist into Danzo's gut, "Suffering!" Hiruzen looked hard into Danzo's eyes, for the last time and opened his hand, releasing his Ninjutsu.

Danzo cried out in agony as flames eclipsed his entire frame instantly, apparently he himself wasn't 'conditioned' to handle pain. Within moments, the body of Danzo Shimura was reduced to ashes and charred flesh, and Hiruzen watched with a mixture of feelings. On one hand, it needed to be done. On the other, it seemed so _wrong._

 _I wonder what Danzo was trying to do…_ Itachi considered, thinking of the rushed handseals he'd watched him perform nearby as he and Yugao made it to where the Hokage was standing just in time to watch Danzo's demise.

Two more figures joined the group around the spot everything was finished, "You work fast, dad… Are you all right?" Asuma broke the silence.

"Sarutobi, you did what you had to do," Enma offered his reassurance, "Now, I must be going," And reverse summoned away.

"I-I'll be fine… I'm an old man after all; this is far from the first person I knew to pass."

Orochimaru watched the Hokage's, scrutinizing the emotions and attempting to translate them in his own mind and spoke up, "Are you sure? Asuma can take over the rest of this mission for you and we'll find Baki," The ANBU captain nodded as if volunteering to do just that.

"No…" Hiruzen insisted, "Don't worry about me… I—" Before he could defend his state of mind any further a fresh volley of Vacuum Blade jutsu enhanced shuriken emerged from somewhere in the dark forest, the air piercing sound giving their approach away and allowing Hokage and his team to react appropriately.

Appearing out of nowhere, the Shimura bolted towards Yugao, charging right at her without arming himself a weapon to block her katana. Quite predictably, the Uzuki stood her ground and waited for him to reach her, eyes focused as she tried to see deception in his movements… But there weren't any to be found.

He reached her, and she sunk her katana through his chest. Blood coughed up his throat, splattering on her Cat mask but he had to resolve to jab his hand forward and make contact with her skin, and died.

Yugao exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she was holding but the confused team remained tense, "How did he survive?"

Itachi surveyed the area, now dreading what Danzo's augments were really intended to do. He witnessed Danzo's first 'death,' and it didn't seem as if there was any way he could've fooled them. But this second death… it was strange. His move was so illogical, risky, incompetent even… Coming from one of the Leaf's strongest and most experienced ninja. And he practically committed suicide! Danzo may have been an evil, corrupt, twisted asshole but nothing about him ever indicated he was suicidal… Could his arm be designed solely for Izanagi?

Although he had not seen Danzo fight very much yet, since he and Yugao approached right as Lord Third 'killed' him, he couldn't help but notice it didn't seem like he possessed the Sharingan's normal abilities in any of the eyes other than the one in his actual eye socket, Shisui's. If his arm's eyes didn't possess normal Sharingan abilities and traits what purpose did they have? He was using them for Izanagi… He had to be.

"Stay alert!" The Uchiha spoke up, "I don't think this is over." His warning appeared to be confirmed when Danzo's body disappeared with not a trace.

Asuma uneasily scanned the area, but it was too dark… aside from the areas that were set on fire, "Damn it, Yugao can you sense him? What the hell kind of jutsu is this!?… Her sword went right through him and he dropped dead!" Yugao locked her eyes shut as she attempted to locate the old death cheating geezer.

"We're not blind!" Orochimaru hissed, "Barracuda… This is Izanagi, isn't it?"

"I believe so…"

From his hiding place, Danzo frowned. Who were these ANBU? How could they know of Izanagi?

"Izanagi?" Asuma repeated, but was interrupted by Yugao letting out a cry of discomfort as a curse mark spread through her body.

"Wh—"

"It's a paralytic curse mark," Orochimaru provided, "Danzo was working on this a long time ago."

Danzo's confusion deepened, one of them knew about that?

"Can it be broken?" Hiruzen asked his former student. This wasn't something the two ever discussed, but the Sannin probably thought of it as irrelevant, there was nothing illegal about Danzo creating a paralysis jutsu.

"Yes, with a strong enough release of chakra. It not only works to immobilize a target for capture or assassination, but also to force a powerful opponent to waste a good sized amount of chakra."

Danzo's confusion became understanding. Well, sort of… At least he knew who he was dealing with now, it just didn't make any sense that Hiruzen would be working with them. In the end, that was irrelevant… Because even if they knew about Izanagi, they wouldn't be able to stop him from using it. Defeating Itachi and Orochimaru did not matter either; he would make use of every life he had to accomplish something. The early lives would be spent to make the rest of the battle easier… and the last ones would be the downfall of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Without the backing of those on this mission, no one would trust a word uttered out of Itachi or Orochimaru's mouths… All he had to do was kill Asuma, Yugao and Hiruzen and escape… After making sure the two missing ANBU that could possibly know about this were dead as well. He could do this, he had to! For the good of the Leaf village!

Yugao found herself struggling to turn around to face Snake to ask her question, but it was futile, "How much chakra?"

"I can't really say… I've never had it used on me bef—"

The emersion of eight Vacuum Blade shuriken silenced Orochimaru as both Sarutobi's planned to move in order to save the seemingly targeted, still paralyzed Yugao, but Itachi stopped them. "NO, DON'T! KILLING HER ISN'T HIS INTENTION!" He urged, his Sharingan eyes analyzing the projectiles' approach, activating his Mangekyou as a precaution depending on Danzo's next move after he stopped the others from 'saving' Yugao from the volley. As he predicted, the eight stars passed each of her sides, but before the last ones went by… Danzo's form appeared a few feet away from her via Shunshin.

 _Damn it,_ Itachi cursed mentally, glad he just reactivated the Mangekyou.

Yugao hurriedly tried to break the paralysis, the fear evident in her eyes even behind the Cat mask as Danzo rushed towards her with a Vacuum kunai gripped in his normal hand. Danzo's pained shriek was her salvation as the man's body became immersed in black flames. _Damn you Itachi!_ The Izanagi abuser cursed, slashing at Yugao just out of range, his Wind chakra splitting right through her katana, rendering it useless and dropping dead once more.

In the spot where Danzo 'respawned,' he grunted in annoyance. _Amaterasu… At least I was able to destroy her sword. Without it, she's no Jonin._ He mused. It was a small victory, especially since he wanted to take her out while she was paralyzed, but two lives to make Yugao Uzuki less useful and not dead was costly. He had seven lives left, eight if he dared resort to Shisui's eye for a final, desperate Izanagi… He had to play this out smart, and he did. His shuriken attack was designed to fool Itachi and move in for the easy kill, and it almost worked, but that damned Amaterasu of his foiled it. No matter, he didn't have time to waste, Izanagi was a massive chakra drainer, and Yugao was a sensor ninja… The longer he kicked back in between deaths and rebirths the more it could bite him.

"Th-Thank you Itachi…" She said, in a bit of a daze. The phrase sounded so strange coming out of her mouth, it wasn't like she'd known Itachi's true story for long, not much longer than two weeks actually.

"Hurry, break the curse mark," Orochimaru advised.

Itachi breathed somewhat hard, using Amaterasu twice in that timeframe, once on Torune and once on Danzo… Was as taxing as ever, "Orochimaru… It would appear hiding our identities no longer matters."

Yugao's eyes widened for a second behind her mask, realizing her mistake, "I'm sorry! I—"

"Not you, Yugao," Orochimaru interrupted, "Danzo knows about Amaterasu, and that means he knows Itachi's here. By proxy, he knows who I must be as well."

"I'm sorry Lord Hokage; it's my fault I had to use that… Danzo deceived me."

A slight smile tugged on Hiruzen's lips, "Don't ever apologize for saving a comrade, Itachi."

"Consequences be damned," Asuma agreed, and snapped his head around upon hearing the emerging figure from the opposite direction from before. He gripped both his chakra blades and powered them up to combat Danzo's Vacuum kunai.

 _You may have used Shisui's eyes to read some of the Uchiha tablets to find out about Izanagi and even how it works, as well as how to use it with this revolting creation of an arm you have… But do you know the full story? I wonder…_

Itachi watched carefully as the two Wind users went at it, taking it in as they were exchanging blows with their chakra enhanced weapons and the elder Sarutobi began to move towards them to support his son. Danzo winced as Asuma's wind cut into his normal arm despite managing to block the strike. Seeing Hiruzen approaching, he expelled Asuma with a surprisingly strong kick that made Asuma question how those two were able to still do that at their age.

Turning, Danzo beheaded Orochimaru's snakes that nearly reached him, likely intended to poison him and engaged the old Kage in Taijutsu once more. Orochimaru lowered his arm after watching the death of the snakes and glanced at his partner, wondering what Itachi was doing. The Uchiha was just watching, but it didn't seem like a calculating gaze. It was more like… He was waiting for something.

Flipping over his the elderly Hokage, he avoided a sweep move and leapt into the air, latching onto a tree with his chakra only for several explosive kunai to immediately be embedded into the trunk just below him courtesy of Yugao and forcing him to jump off. Projecting his trajectory, Orochimaru performed an Earth jutsu that lowered a chunk of the ground in an attempt to drop the Shimura down a pit where it would be easy for Hiruzen or someone to blast a massive Fire jutsu down. But all Orochimaru's move did was annoy Danzo, who once again used a Wind jutsu to give him a second burst in the air to clear the square shaped man-made ravine.

This time it was Asuma's turn to strike Danzo based on trajectory; releasing chakra infused ash stored in his lungs all around the area Danzo's form landed in, he prepared to get the old bastard with his favorite finishing move, reaching for his lighter for something other than a cigarette for a change. But Danzo was a wily veteran, and he knew of this jutsu of Asuma's creation and exactly how to counter it.

Danzo inhaled another deep breath, "Say goodnight!" Asuma shouted, igniting his lighter.

The ashes were gusted back at their owner and his eyes widened behind the mask as the explosion sent him back, "Asuma!" Hiruzen shouted furiously, going after Danzo.

Fortunately, it wasn't as strong as it would've been had he engulfed Danzo with it, but it still hurt like hell and his ANBU gear was painted in soot. Trying to struggle to his feet to defend himself, he could see Danzo sprinting towards him, going for the kill. His dad was trying to catch up, but it looked like Danzo was the faster seventy-something year old in the battle.

Yugao managed to intercept the coot but after an extremely brief Taijutsu entanglement she was cast aside, and Asuma's salvation came when a bright flash of blue illuminated the night as it soared across the terrain and plunged right into Danzo's neck and killed him after a single pained grunt. The body collapsed, and the Lightning Spear stuck in his neck faded away, the rest of his body a moment later presumably due to Izanagi. Ironically, Asuma just chuckled… "Looks like I owe you twice already, Orochimaru."

The massive jutsu repertoire enthusiast shot him a smirk that quickly faded as he shot another glance at the still Itachi. Trusting his partner was up to something good, he moved closer Asuma, prepared to stop Danzo from preying on the weakened. Seeing Orochimaru's adjustment, Danzo turned his focus back to Yugao. He would kill her first, Asuma soon after… Then all that would matter is the damned Hokage.

Responding quickly to Danzo's latest emersion from hiding, Lord Third managed to intercept him before he reached Yugao, only to find he kicked a log with a bunch of paper bombs attached to it through the air. The light of the explosion gave away the direction of his actual move however, and though Hiruzen, Yugao and Orochimaru were unable to pinpoint the precise movement they all barely caught, Itachi's Sharingan enabled him to react fast enough.

Reinserting himself into the battle, he appeared in front of Yugao and let out a fireball that punched right through the incoming Wind jutsu. Darting towards the area his fireball decimated, he made his way to Danzo and the two engaged in brief Taijutsu. Landing a hit, Danzo was mildly surprised when Itachi's body dispersed into crows.

The crows regrouped and reformed Itachi, but Danzo dropped to the ground, apparently caught in an illusion, "No Orochimaru!" He plead, causing the Sannin to stop just in front of the trapped Shimura with his kunai ready.

"Do not kill him yet."

"Why not?"

"Because if you do, it will ruin my jutsu and he will return because of Izanagi."

Orochimaru backed off in understanding, "What are you planning to do, seal him away? Unless you have a Genjutsu he could _never_ break under any circumstance, I see no point in stalling. We'll have to kill him once per eye, isn't that right?" He questioned.

"So you noticed that every time he dies… One of the Sharingan closes," He paused, and Orochimaru gave a stiff nod.

"Watch the arm closely… And you'll see."

Orochimaru did so, as did Hiruzen and the others. One of the eyes slowly locked up, getting a general wave of confusion flowing through the group, "I see…" Orochimaru said, staring at the augmentations, "Death is not the only way to render the eye useless. Chakra depletion from leaving the jutsu active for too long ends in the same result."

"Correct, which means given enough time… All of the eyes will lose their light, and then I will kill him and he'll never commit another atrocity in this world," Itachi vowed, "I've used the sister jutsu of the Izanagi on him, Izanami… Technically, there is a way to break it but I know Danzo won't be able to."

Hiruzen seemed skeptical; it was not wise to underestimate Danzo, "How can you be sure?"

"Danzo will have to accept his fate, and that his actions have put the village at risk. He will never see this…" Itachi explained.

"So, you're going to wait for his chakra to run out and finish him? While the rest of us will go searching for Baki then?" Asuma addressed.

"I'll see what I can do to wake Jackal," Orochimaru decided, walking off in the direction of the captured Fu Yamanaka.

* * *

Baki's eyes were locked shut, his breathing steady as he faked sleep. When he heard the doors open and footsteps that followed he could only hope they would believe he was and come back later. Of course, given the circumstance, it was far more likely they would 'wake' him up with a blade of some kind. That Beaver guy has a serious blade fetish.

"He's been through hell…"

Baki felt his eyebrow twitch at the voice that sounded like the Third Hokage and hoped they didn't notice, "Indeed, he looks like shit."

The second voice cause his eyes to snap open and he slightly gaped at the three in front of him. The Third Hokage, accompanied by a pair of ANBU, one that sounded suspiciously like a certain Snake Sannin… Who just so happened to be wearing a Snake mask, and the other wearing a Jackal mask. The Sarutobi's eyes seemed apologetic and plagued with horror as one of the most skilled shinobi of all time surveyed his injuries.

Jackal pulled a tanto out and got to work on his restrictions, "Those responsible have been dealt with, we're here to make things right."

"And by 'dealt with,'" Orochimaru repeated, "Well…" He cut himself off with strange, delighted laughter.

Hiruzen stared at his former student oddly for a moment but brushed it off, that was Orochimaru… If acting like a lunatic half the time he was on duty was the only way to maintain his sanity so be it… At least he wasn't doing the crap Gai Maito does, "I must apologize on behalf of the Leaf for something like this happening under my watch…" Hiruzen offered the man as Jackal supported him to stand and Orochimaru started carefully pulling interrogation blades out of him.

"This won't be pleasant no matter what speed I choose," Orochimaru warned, "So I'm going to pull all of them out as quickly as possible."

"It doesn't matter, my entire body aches anyway," Baki clarified and clamped his teeth shut.

In less than a minute, all eleven excoriation knives were lifted from his skin, as Baki tried to keep his pained groaning at a minimal. "Hokage," He spoke up after, "I thank you for the rescue… I can promise you, Lord Kazekage will not be declaring war."

"Don't make promises you—"

Baki held a hand up to stop the Kage, which seemed odd to be doing (and hurt to move his arm that way) to someone of that stature, "Trust me… Because I've trusted all of you," The comment went over Jackal's head, but Sarutobi and Orochimaru understood what he meant. He didn't sell them out.

With Danzo presumably killed by Itachi by now… It was hard to say how much it would've mattered anyway now, but there's no telling what kind of contingency plans Danzo had set up for his organization in the event of his death.

"We'll take you for immediate medical attention… We can discuss everything else later."

With support of Jackal, Baki followed Hiruzen and Orochimaru out, eyeing the trail of bodies all the way outside. As they approached the exit, a small grin took him over at the sight of a tarnished Beaver mask lying on the floor.

Two more ANBU met them outside, and the group began the trek back to the village.

* * *

It was just barely dawn, and the Leaf was in the process of waking up still. Naruto was no exception, groggily walking through the streets, ignoring some of the gazes of civilians who _were_ awake long enough to show their scorn and directed his path towards the training grounds. As he'd been doing every day, he had to start his morning off with some refinement of his Wind Style for the Shurikenjutsu. (as much as he still found it stupid to call it that) But unlike every other morning, he had the luck of running into people he knew along the way.

"Naruto!" An excited, downright hyper voice exploded from a ways down the path behind him. Squinting, Naruto was able to make out green… Is that spandex?

Oh God.

With an impressive feat of speed (not even considering those weights on his ankles) Rock Lee appeared in front of him and stopped for a moment to invite the Uzumaki to his _'Most youthful three-hundred sprinted laps around the village'_ , which Naruto politely refused. "Do your flames of youth not burn?!"

Naruto sweatdropped, "Um… Sure they do… I guess."

"YOSH! Then you must!"

"Lee…" He responded in a warning tone, "I have my own training to do, and I can't skip out on it and join you or it will put me behind schedule for the day," It was a flimsy excuse, any idiot could simply move his normal morning exercise to another time to join Lee for a bit… But what fool volunteers to sprint around the village three hundred times? Not this Uzumaki…

Lee's made an 'oh' expression and seemingly backed off, "Well that is good too!" He made a completely unnecessary pose with a thumbs up and a frighteningly shiny smile, "To hear that another's training has one so enveloped!" Naruto was starting to wonder why Lee's vocabulary got so more eloquent at times during the speech-like moments he and Gai had about… youth, but pushed it aside and just nodded in agreement hoping the strange bowl-cut Genin would now leave so he could return to the nagging process of waking up.

"Good luck Naruto, for I must go now as not to be late to meet with Gai-sensei later!" And with that, he left.

Aside from the incomprehensible eccentricities Lee had, Naruto held nothing against him. Knowing someone could make it this far with only Taijutsu was astonishing! Just… seriously it's too early to be hearing speeches about 'youth,' especially since they barely knew one another.

Resuming his walk, he eventually encountered Ino. Recognizing the attractive kunoichi, he stopped in his tracks and called out to her, "Yo, Ino."

Apparently Ino was thinking deeply about something cause she was jumped abruptly upon hearing the greeting before letting out a sharp sigh of relief. Seeing Naruto's raised eyebrow she smiled and walked over to him from the other side of the street. "Hey, didn't see you…"

Naruto snorted, "Obviously; what are you so uptight about? It's not like you to be startled so easily."

Ino blushed mildly but Naruto didn't seem to notice, "Oh it's nothing… I just can't stop thinking about something embarrassing that happened to me yesterday and I'm trying to decide how to handle the situation with that… person," She explained, deciding not to mention who it was to the 'person's' teammate who would most certainly make some stupid crack about it.

Naruto blinked, "I haven't been awake very long Ino… You're gonna have to be less vague if I'm going to be any help."

Ino laughed, "Well it's not that bad… Just a little embarrassing, I'll figure it out though don't worry!" She sounded confident, and Naruto believed her… But he felt like he was missing something in the way she was avoiding giving any detail, the male just chalked it up to the grogginess and left it be, deciding to move on.

"Where you going? Taking care of it now?"

"No, I'm just going to run a couple errands for my mom. Then I'll be training with Sakura; Kakashi-sensei's ignoring us at the moment since Sasuke's the only one in the finals," She rolled her eyes, "…And we've been slacking off the last couple weeks because of that."

The incident in which they had a run-in with those Akatsuki guys was about a month ago now, and Kakashi was now doing much better but ultimately wasn't ready for the field. He was of course, well enough to train the Uchiha up.

Naruto chuckled at that, "Don't feel too bad, Anko-sensei isn't training any of us this month really… She doesn't want to impact one of us more than another."

"Figures, I wouldn't want to either if I were a Jonin instructor…"

"Yeah," He nodded in agreement and the two of them turned around feeling a third presense creep up.

"Kiba!" Naruto greeted, "I haven't seen you lately, Kin said you've been too busy to train with her."

The Inuzuka chuckled, "Yeah, and wouldn't you just like to know about it?" He taunted.

"Not really, either way I'm gonna kick your butt if I have to… Sorry in advance," He returned cheekily.

Kiba snorted, "I'll be ready for whatever you got… _believe it,_ " He emphasized to mock his friend.

The two engaged in an intense staring contest and for a moment, Ino started to wonder if the two of them were having some sort of rivalry implosion over the whole Chunin exams thing but before she could reinsert herself into the conversation the two boys busted up laughing.

"What are you two doing together so early?" Kiba then asked after they settled down.

"Nothing, ran into each other."

"Ah," Kiba grunted disinterested sniffing the air dramatically, "Is that you?" He questioned, eyes settling on Ino.

"Are you…" She began, a demonic tone settling into her voice, Naruto wisely stepped back, "Implying _I_ smell!?"

Kiba scoffed, "Did I say it was a _bad_ smell?" He sniffled the air some more, "It's definitely you…" He cemented, "Nice perfume."

Naruto deadpanned as he'd just watched her look ready to kill his teammate, but was now smiling bright as the sun, with a plastered expression of what looked like flattery, "Why thank you…" She took the compliment, "I just got it; Sakura and I decided to take Kin shopping with us to get to know her."

"For Shikamaru, right?" He sniffed the air yet again, clearly finding the potent fragrance pleasant with his advanced sense of smell, "I envy him…" He stated jokingly.

Ino practically fell over and Naruto failed horribly at stifling his laughter. "Well, I'm in a rush see ya!" And the Inuzuka took off, Akamaru in tow after bidding farewell with a bark.

Recovering only after he'd already ran out of earshot Ino cast a glare at Naruto instead, "I'm going to _kill_ you guys if you don't stop with that!"

Naruto gave her a knowing smirk, "Stop what? I didn't say anything… Did Kiba strike a nerve?"

A vein bulged out of Ino's forehead and she stormed off in the other direction, "Why do I talk to them? Why?"

Chuckling, Naruto returned to his own business…

* * *

 _Hospital_

"She's in there!" A rather intimidated nurse directed the beat up team that had arrived from the domestic issue from hell and were now looking to have their wounds erased.

" _Thanks honey_ …"

Lord Third coughed as a warning to his only former student that had an absurd inability to _not_ think about that for five minutes. Jiraiya ignored his teacher and winked at the now profusely blushing nurse and turned around only to meet the fist of an angry Senju that sent him through the wall, "IDIOT!"

At least one person found the situation amusing, "He didn't even do anything that bad this time," commented the chuckling Orochimaru.

Tsunade was torn from her moment of rage at Jiraiya's constant perverseness and looked at the Snake masked ANBU with a surprised look on her face that faded away just as quickly, "A snake huh… That really figures."

"What else would I pick? It's better than my partner's…" He pointed out, sticking a thumb at Itachi who didn't find it prudent to comment.

Tsunade laughed, for some reason it felt good knowing Jiraiya was lying on the floor of the room across from them — hopefully bleeding— (as long as the blood was kept away from her that is) with her other teammate right in front of her showcasing his sarcasm along with their currently annoyed former teacher who was still glaring at her for that punch.

"Who do you think is _paying_ for that, Tsunade?"

"Take it out of Jiraiya's paycheck!"

Hiruzen sighed, expecting that response as both Orochimaru and Yugao chuckled quietly. Now wasn't the best time though, "Please… Just hurry up and treat Baki here. Danzo's men did a number on him." Asuma had already laid down on a bed, ignoring the squabbles to light a cigarette and try to relax a bit. Itachi assisted Baki in order for him to make it to his bed and Tsunade got ready, it was clear that the Sand ninja required treatment before anyone else.

Speaking of Sand ninja, three of them nearly burst into the room to see their injured sensei, but were cut off at the door by Orochimaru. "What's the big idea!" Kankuro complained, "Our sensei's in there and we want to know what's going on!"

"No one's telling us anything!" Temari jumped in.

Gaara's voice was kept in check, and his emotions looked no different now than when he'd been watching porn with Jiraiya, which honestly bugged the Sannin a little. Even Itachi was more lively than this! "Is he all right?" He asked in a serious manner.

"He's being treated right now… By the best medic ninja in the history of mankind."

The voice caught all three off guard, even Gaara flinched, "Yes, it's me… Keep quiet," He stated and walked away, sensing Itachi's approach from behind.

"Your sensei was tortured by the Foundation… But we managed to rescue him," The Uchiha supplied them.

"Oro—Er.. _Snake,_ where are you going?" Jiraiya inquired, following his old teammate.

Ignoring the two departing Sannin the Sand siblings took this information in thoughtfully, "When will we get to see him?" Kankuro asked.

"Soon, I imagine," Itachi assured.

* * *

A mysterious, masked figure walked along the streets of the Hidden Leaf observantly. Unlike the ANBU, his mask did not resemble an animal, but was simply an orange swirl… and his need to hide his identity was of a much different nature than the black ops. Those who shot strange or curious looks at the man did not notice the lone Sharingan taking refuge inside the dark sanctuary the mask provided. Donning a black cloak with red clouds on it, the peculiar figure looked even more out of place. If only a single one of these people could read his thoughts…

 _The traitors were not completely misleading us._ Madara mused. _They truly did go after Danzo, based on the arrest of so many ANBU and the confusion spreading through the village like a wildfire._ While Madara held no love for Danzo Shimura, especially since the village elder's organization was in fact privy to the Akatsuki's existence and an obvious enemy… The former founder could not help but find it difficult to piece together Itachi and Orochimaru's motivation behind this.

Madara knew Itachi's order to kill the Uchiha clan off was essentially Danzo's, after the Foundation's leader managed to foil all other options until it was too late and force the Third Hokage to permit the slaughter. Perhaps Itachi would hold a great deal of resentment behind his icy personality, but why not act on this long before now? Orochimaru's crimes were discovered by Danzo which lead to his fleeing of the village, which made it clear why the Sannin might want to get a taste of Shimura blood, convincing Itachi to tag along in order to keep to the agreement Itachi had made with the Akatsuki. ' _No member of the Akatsuki was permitted to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf village unless in the Uchiha's presence'_ an agreement Madara was currently pissing on in favor of his own agenda.

Since discovering Orochimaru and Itachi were not loyal to the Akatsuki's cause, Madara and Pein had been anticipating a move. _Nagato thought he was being clever when he assigned Tsunade as a target… How misfortunate, that he underestimated their resourcefulness._ To Madara, it was clear that Orochimaru managed to get a message out that lured the Slug Queen back to the village she'd long abandoned, finding means to do so behind Sasori's wary surveillance… Sasori who by the way was somehow located and defeated by Pakura of the Scorch Style and a team of Sand ninja conveniently while Orochimaru and Itachi were in the village and Sasori was still in the Land of Fire, in a location the traitors were aware of.

And then there's the fact Tsunade just happens to stay in the Hokage mansion in a guest room with her former sensei? And just happens to not leave the village she'd vowed not to return to? These 'coincidences' wreaked manipulation, and someone like Madara could smell it from the other side of the world.

From what he could tell, Jiraiya had been left in charge of the village while the Hokage hunted down Danzo… Tsunade was with him in all likelihood or astray from any potentially dangerous shinobi. If Orochimaru and Itachi had orchestrated the chaos, sticking the Hokage of all people on the Foundation in attempt to hit two birds with one stone, they would use this window of opportunity to take Tsunade down. But that wasn't at all their intention… Just as Madara expected.

As he and Pein wanted, Orochimaru and Itachi were being forced to show their hand with this target, it was just uncalculated that they would be smart enough to lead the Slug Sannin into the Leaf to buy themselves time using the reasonable, consequential excuses before they had to fully reveal that hand. But the lack of action being took upon them at the moment spoke volumes, maybe they had absolutely nothing to do with the hunt for Danzo and it was a completely unexpected development that ran its course as two of the most powerful men in the Land of Fire tripped over one another.

Entirely possible, but Madara wasn't a fool… And he didn't believe in coincidences that aligned so much in a couple men's particular favor. There _were_ plenty of reasons why Orochimaru or Itachi would be so interested in killing Danzo Shimura, that was undisputable. But the question was, where did their actual loyalty fall? Obviously not the Akatsuki… They were avoiding their mission to kill Tsunade and bring the body back to Pein, and that's not even mentioning the show Orochimaru put on with Jiraiya, pretending to try and kill one another months ago… The snake going as far as lying about 'shredding' Jiraiya's body to pieces with his jutsu, believing Madara had not been present to watch his water snakes retrieve his old friend along with those toads after he and Itachi had already departed.

On the other hand, were they even loyal to the Leaf village? Going after Danzo was technically going after the Leaf… But then again the Third Hokage was hunting his old rival, meaning either they were working together on the matter… the Kage needing to neutralize an out of control domestic affair, or Orochimaru and Itachi were downright manipulating their old village to do their work for them one way or another. For that matter, Orochimaru and Itachi could even be using each other!

Madara had all the pieces to the puzzle now, but he lacked the certainty of where each piece linked together. In due time… He would solve it, and then Orochimaru… Itachi… Maybe even the Leaf… Would be appropriately dealt with in a manner that best fit the interest of the Akatsuki.

Project Tsukuyomi had yet to truly begin, but Madara was determined that no obstacle would stand in the way of his aspiration… His _Dream_.

 ** _A/N:_** **I seriously hope everyone's happy about the length on this one… I could've definitely had it split in 2 but nah I want the knife stuck through this subplot for awhile. The Foundation is by no means completely done in Re-Alignment, but this is obviously a big deal in regards to them. Wow, I'm fucking stating the obvious aren't I? Perhaps I should go to bed…**

 **Nah… I think I'll just fetch some and finish this author's note lmao… Maybe kick back and play some halo after, eh**

 **This chapter is probably my new personal favorite! Def looking forward to the reviews on this one lolz**

 **The prison jutsu used by Orochimaru on Fu was the same one Jirobo used in canon. I figured it's possible he was the one to pass that onto him, but Orochimaru doesn't have the chakra absorbing part of it which was a special ability of Jirobo's (I think at least) If that is incorrect… feel free to inform me.**

 **By the way, forgot to mention to you guys I have a side project now… But Re-Alignment will always take undisputed attention over it. The side story is titled Deviance, in which a pervert has run rampant in the village and so Tsunade, tired of the complaints turns to the perfect person for the job in catching the man… Jiraiya xD. After a misunderstanding, Naruto, Sakura and Ino get dragged into this (and I intend to at times bring other cast members in but those are the main four) Labeled Romance/Humor NaruIno if anyone's interested. It's only got 2 chapters thus far**

 **'** **Til next time… well, not quite… Omake!**

 **OMAKE: Two Sannin and Two High Heels**

 **I had to do an Omake to take a break from writing the actual chapter when it was getting particularly long; (without simply writing Deviance lol) this 1.5k is the result. Takes place during this chapter actually; it's just not important at all and doesn't need to be a part of the actual chapter… As everything other than the Naruto part of this chapter was serious shit… In fact the only reason why I did the Genin scene was to put something between the rescue and their arrival at the village as well as show that it wasn't dark out anymore.**

 **If I could do this any differently and just put this in a different chapter I would, but no matter what due to Orochimaru's circumstance this was the only fit. So I settled on separating it as an Omake…**

"Oro—Er.. _Snake_ , where are you going?" Jiraiya inquired, stalking him as he left everything in Hiruzen and the village's capable hands.

Orochimaru slowed down to allow Jiraiya to easily catch up to him and join his side, preferring to whisper his reply, "It's been a long time since I could freely walk around the village."

While it was true that during his and Itachi's time as 'Baki' and 'Gaara,' he could have went just about anywhere in the village he wanted. He didn't because foreign ninja were surveyed constantly by the host village at every Chunin exam. Itachi had made a point of keeping themselves indoors and as unsuspicious as possible, usually having Temari and Kankuro with them should they leave anywhere just for the sake of appearing like any other normal team.

Jiraiya shot him a dangerous look, "That's risky, even with the ANBU outfit… I don't like it."

"Perhaps, but I'm willing to expose a small opportunity such as this," Orochimaru insisted, "Danzo's men are all detained, sensei's men should be aware of Barracuda and I; they simply don't know who we really are. It will be fine."

"Probably," The white haired man admitted, "But a risk is a risk, and I would rather not be dragged out of my bed by Tsunade informing me that you were forced to flee."

"Please… You would never be upset about Tsunade 'dragging you out of bed'."

Jiraiya stopped in his tracks for a split second, "Good point…"

Orochimaru rolled his Genjutsu-slits as he listened to the next part, "Maybe if that happened instead of being dragged out I could listen to what she had to tell me and convince her everything will be okay… And get her to join me under the covers!"

"Operation Slughammer is still incomplete after all these years," The Snake Sannin mused, "Don't you think it may be time to wave the white flag?" He chuckled.

Jiraiya glared at the masked Sannin, boy was it annoying that he had to put up with having a conversation with an old friend through that thing. He couldn't see his expressions or eyes and found no gratification for his efforts to glare in the first place. He was so lucky he couldn't just force that thing off of him… Instead of indulging in frustration towards the joke he simply crossed his arms and smirked.

"It's an S-Class mission… One that few men…" He paused with a perverted grin, "Even less women,"

Orochimaru wanted to facepalm so badly but it would be very very bad if he accidentally knocked the mask off.

"…Great shinobi they may be… Could never accomplish! You for example, no shot."

"First off, I assure you that Tsunade does not desire women, you cursed deviant! And more importantly, I feel it is prudent to point out that I have come every bit as close as you have to having sexual relations with Tsunade… _Nowhere_ ," He smirked behind his mask; this was something he truly missed about his exile… His incessant bantering with Jiraiya, "The difference between you and I is that I've never even attempted to."

Jiraiya scoffed, "Shut up you bastard… She'll come around one day, you'll see."

The fake ANBU let out an audible snort, "If she does, please inform me; hopefully I won't require a walker by then, and hopefully Tsunade won't be senile," He only pretended to not notice the tickmark on his teammate's forehead as he went on, "Nonetheless…" He sighed dramatically, "I'll be your best man."

"No, you won't," Jiraiya deadpanned, "I'll find somebody better."

Orochimaru frowned behind his mask, not that Jiraiya could see it, "Not that I particularly care if you desire me to be your best man or not… I do think it's rather fitting should your bride be Tsunade."

"I'll… Think about it," The Toad Sannin conceded, albeit not very enthusiastically. Did someone like Orochimaru who spent his life dedicated to learning jutsu and fighting for the Leaf village and unfortunately had no family have the faintest clue about what weddings were even like? Eccentricities aside…

"Of course, you would first have to get her to actually accept a date. Which generally means you don't get kicked across the village as she shouts 'pervert' at the top of her lungs."

"What would you know!? You've never even had a girlfriend so stop judging me damn it!"

Before Orochimaru could retort both men were silenced by the approach of an attractive woman in her thirties that recognized Jiraiya. She was comparatively just a little taller than Yugao, except she wasn't a shinobi and wore pitifully loose clothing. Today she was sporting a revealing navy blouse with probably nothing under it to go with red short-shorts and clanking high heels. Orochimaru's eyes widened behind his mask. _Kag—_

"Jiriaya!"

"Kagimi! So nice to see you again!" Jiraiya perked up, "You're blonde now…" He then observed, and added suggestively: "How's _business_?" Barely stifling his perverted giggles.

"Ohhh business it _great_ ," She smirked, "But I haven't seen one of my favorite clients in a long time," She mock-pouted.

Jiraiya laughed, "And what does this client look like?"

Putting on a seductive smile, Kagimi licked her lips in a way one of her old clients had a weird tendency to do, but she hadn't seen that guy in forever. Come to think of it, he was a shinobi too… Maybe he died, how sad… "Ohhh you know… He's a strong shinobi with lots of missions that keep him out of the village with lots of _experience_ on both fronts… His body—"

"Miss, I'm going to warn you only once not to solicit yourself or I'll have you locked up and swallow the key."

Jiraiya shot Orochimaru a sour look; he'd forgotten his ex-teammate was even there. Kagimi said her goodbye to Jiraiya and fled, no doubt intimidated by the ANBU gear. Looking at Jiraiya's face, Orochimaru could best describe it as 'What the fuck.' "Abusing your mask like that! Why do you even care!? Kagimi's a sweetheart I'll have you know!"

Orochimaru was too shook up by the realization he'd come to before deciding to scare her the hell away to join against Jiraiya's squabbling, "You may not appreciate or disagree with her way of life, but she can do what she wants! She's a very kind hearted person! With a very nice ass… And she's so damn good at—"

Orochimaru raised a hand up to interject, not wanting anything to do with whatever Kagimi and Jiraiya have done… "Enough! I know what she—"He stopped right there, failing miserably at hiding the very thing that caught him off guard.

Jiraiya gave him a confused look, "You know Kagimi?" Then his confused look evolved into a wide eyed mouth gaping shock, "B-But that means you…"

"Yes."

"…"

"…"

Recovering slightly, Jiraiya dared take this discussion further, "So let me get this straight… Just so I'm sure that my mind hasn't misplaced these connections… You and Kagimi have had sex?"

Orochimaru nodded slowly, not only was he the private type that didn't talk about these things _ever,_ but he couldn't think of anything worse than speaking to Jiraiya about it. As an active shinobi, he felt being attached to someone was a bad idea so he settled for whores. Even if he found it morally distasteful… He just didn't want to leave someone alone after being killed in battle, or hell be _left_ alone when his opposite didn't return from a mission. He'd had enough of such pain, having grown up an orphan and then watched comrades die in the war, he didn't want anymore.

Jiraiya was in a daze to say the least. Up until that conversation they had yesterday he'd believed Orochimaru was either born without reproductive instincts or kept himself locked in the closet so to speak. Then he inadvertently discovered that wasn't true at all; the man wasn't even a virgin… But THIS? THIS was too much. A woman existed that had got it from both male Sannin at some point.

The two Sannin just stared at each other awkwardly; thank God Orochimaru still had that ANBU uniform. And yet… Jiraiya still could not just let this go, "But that means we've both—"

"I realize this you fool!" He silenced the Toad Sannin, "For fucks sake stop talking!"

"…"

"I-I'll see you later… When this is less weird," Jiraiya decided, walking in the opposite direction of his old teammate.

Clad in ANBU gear and petrified by the morning's most unexpected revelation, Orochimaru found it very difficult to enjoy taking in the sights within the village freely.

 **A/N: Lol… I have nothing to say about this really…**

 **But I will note that I find Orochimaru/Jiraiya's friendship interesting to write since this is one of the few fics in which they don't despise one another (it doesn't help that they are almost always enemies of course… but what can ya do, that's canon)**

 **Pointa out**


	29. Stealth Training

**Chapter 29: "Stealth Training"**

 ** _A/N:_** **Hello all**

 **Going to take a moment to refresh everyone's memory a little cause there was confusion about last chapter in regards to the Leaf's relations with Itachi/Orochimaru.**

 **The Hokage's team on the rescue mission last chapter (once again comprised Hiruzen Asuma Yugao Orochimaru and Itachi with a couple of Inuzuka guys Jackal/Timberwolf) Asuma has known about Orochimaru's mission since the beginning, he's been a part of that inner circle of people Hiruzen trusts with Akatsuki related information.**

 **Jiraiya as well… Hiashi, Anko.**

 **After Orochimaru and Itachi figured out that neither were loyal to the Akatsuki way back in the beginning of Re-Alignment, and there was a 'fight' between Oro and Jiraiya that was basically staged because Jiraiya didn't know the truth about the massacre and Itachi's loyalty while Orochimaru had to pretend because they thought Zetsu was watching. Remember that? Lolz long time ago… Anyway it was after that and a pair of scrolls left behind from Orochimaru that lead to the Hokage sharing the truth of the massacre with Anko/Jiraiya For the purposes of this story, Asuma already knew being not only the Hokage's son but ANBU captain who is usually in the tower for protective reasons (Which he's done ever since the events of Danzo and the Wood Style experiments bust)**

 **Then Danzo was hellbent on finding Orochimaru when they knew he'd infiltrated the village and Hiruzen had to take steps to make it appear like he was also hunting Orochimaru while actually trying to help him. It became necessary that Hiashi know about Itachi, and he pulled Yugao into everything and she learned of both at that point.**

 **Jackal/Timberwolf know jack shit… That's part of why it was necessary to have Snake/Barracuda aliases but the other members of the team know** ** _everything._** **I couldn't do anything about the fact I needed Inuzuka's, lol so I made those two OCs for tracking purposes. When one died and the other was unconscious and Danzo had already seen Amaterasu (a dead giveaway) I stopped worrying about them guarding identities so they used each other's real names and all.**

 **Theoretically, I could've perhaps found a way to use Hiashi as the tracker and avoid that complication… but I thought it made more sense to try and track the scents of both Baki and Danzo, resulting in two Inuzuka and idt it makes sense that ANBU would be allowed to work with their hound because that's like screaming your clan affiliation out to everyone, so instead the two would do their combo attacks together, but that's a little off topic.**

 **To those of you who are like: "why the fuck would they tell anyone about Itachi when they didn't in canon?" Because, those with any involvement to Orochimaru's mission need to know Itachi's working with him, and to understand that they have to know the truth.**

 **Baki knows very little. He knows the Hokage and a select few are discreetly working with the two rogues, he just has no clue why or what the real stories are behind them. In the end, he chose to protect what he knew from the Foundation because that meant he took the Hokage's side not Danzo and he of course did what he could to try and prevent war when he didn't know he would be rescued.**

 **Sorry about having to bring all that up, but I'd rather not have people continue to be confused cause they forgot about things from awhile back. I understand and all, yall read lots of stories it's impossible to engrave everything about mine into your memory XD It's good, but it seemed like a good idea to just take a step back and refresh so everything continues to make sense, as it should.**

 **On a side note… age was mentioned in argument against Kin/Naruto. Idk what Kin's canon age was, but she doesn't seem like she should have been older than Temari who was like what 15? I've got Kin as 14 in this story so it's only two years… and it's not like they're (or any kids for that matter) getting together right now xD**

 **I love this chapter for some reason, enjoy**

Anko was stunned, "They what!"

"Mhm…" Was all Orochimaru said as he stirred the cinnamon.

"I… Don't even know how to feel about that," She admitted, "Sure he was _wrong_ about us, but at least he knew something was going on under the village's nose. He misinterpreted it… and judged the fuck out of me! But still…"

They were sitting at the table over at Jiraiya's place at the moment. Three days had passed since the Hokage and his handpicked team were able to rescue Baki. That of course also meant it was the three day anniversary of Danzo's death, which Anko happily celebrated with shots of hard liquor that wasn't even hers. But at this point, Jiraiya wouldn't bother complaining about anything that happened to his booze. He'd been stuck providing a place to live for four foreigners and a couple of "criminals" that had nowhere else to stay. Besides, Tsunade dropped by both of the last two days to bullshit with her two former teammates. Suffice to say, he was going to run out of liquor no matter what by the time all this was over.

The heat was recently taken off of Orochimaru and Itachi, big time. With Danzo out of the way, and the ROOT ANBU all detained, there was no one to dispute anything when Lord Third gave Asuma an official assignment to follow up a lead on Orochimaru that was unofficially an assignment to pave a cold but realistic trail that would fool Koharu and Homura into believing the Snake Sannin fled for an unknown reason. He had Hiashi personally go to "check things out" and of course, no one questioned him when he validated Asuma's claim. With the higher ups that were not privy to Orochimaru's mission sated by this load of bullshit, no one was actively hunting the Sannin within the village anymore and that made life much easier.

For example, now Hiruzen had nothing to worry about when he added Snake and Barracuda to the ANBU roster with an asterisk by their names, declaring their identities secret to even the other ANBUs, and claiming the two of them were temporary members assisting anonymously to up security while the Chunin exam finals were still approaching and all the havoc going on behind the scenes within the village. Convincing Koharu and Homura to keep their noses out of that matter was difficult, but Hiashi managed to get them to back off by claiming he too had served anonymously for Hiruzen on some matters before, and that sometimes people had good reasons to avoid the spotlight, using his status as clan head and politics as an example.

They begrudgingly let it go, it's a good thing they didn't know Snake and Barracuda helped take Danzo out… Then that issue would probably never been dropped. So as it was now, Orochimaru and Itachi had to work shifts as sentries through the village. A little boring? Yes… Better than sitting around Jiraiya's with nothing to do every day? Definitely.

Orochimaru was off duty at the moment, so he was 'home,' and that lead to this visit from Anko and the conversation they were currently in the middle of now, Tokuro Hyuga's arrest.

"He always was a paranoid one; I never could break that out of him…" Orochimaru mused, "But you're right. Even if he was off the mark, he was more aware something was going on than the rest."

"You think the word of Danzo's betrayal will give him a wakeup call?" She wondered.

"Doubt it; I _am_ supposed to be a traitor. Though it may bother him a good deal that he 'mistook' Baki for me."

"Which he actually was right about… For the preliminaries at least," she groused, "Still, he was following Danzo's orders to investigate and was focused on you, nothing else! He had nothing to do with the things Danzo's been doing, other than putting the idea in his head that Baki was you. So why did the Hokage have him arrested?" _Why am I trying to defend that idiot?_ She then asked herself.

"It's temporary my dear, I guarantee it," He paused to sip his tea, "Sarutobi-sensei's afraid Tokuro might choose to take matters into his own hands and investigate my 'cold trail.'''

"So he's locking him up long enough to make any chance of him picking up on the trail impossible? Good call…"

"The forecast suggests it will rain tonight… He won't even bother going out there," Orochimaru chuckled, "There's also another reason however; even Inoichi is getting nothing out of the ROOT agents."

"The Foundation was able to lock their minds down even from the Yamanaka's? How is that even possible!?"

"Inoanji, if I were to guess…"

"What's that asshole have to do with anything?" Anko raised an eyebrow.

"He served as a communications officer for Danzo at times while I was pretending to work with them on the Wood Style revival project," The Sannin explained, "Not all of the Foundation's people are like the one's you're more likely to encounter in battle. Danzo persuades people of interest, like myself for example… So he can use them and their skills for something important. Tokuro falls into this same category, because he was a tracking specialist with a grudge against me during the time Danzo was hunting for me."

Anko downed another shot, the fifth by Orochimaru's count, "I really wish you guys would've taken me on that mission… I wanted to kill him," She complained.

Orochimaru chuckled again, "Now, now, Anko… Just because Danzo's dead doesn't mean we don't have work to do to ensure the Foundation never rises up again. You can find a way to assist with that; I'm turning my full attention back to the Akatsuki."

"Danzo's dead, the Hokage said he disbanded ROOT… All of their remaining members are still detained until we know what to do with them;" She pointed out, "What else is there to do?"

"Danzo surely had contingency plans preset in case he died… Sarutobi-sensei's trying to divulge what they were to put a stop to them."

"I'm good at information gathering, but if _Ibiki Morino_ can't get anything out them… I'd be wasting my time," She retorted.

"Right you are… Which is why I don't think the Foundation has been eradicated from the other night's events," Orochimaru revealed, "It may be years before we know what ideas Danzo took with him to the grave that will be set in motion by others."

"Fuck…" She muttered and downed a sixth shot before letting out a pleasured exhale of alcohol tainted breath, "Well at least I get to help destroy them later!"

The Sannin rolled his eyes but his lips curved upwards slightly, his former pupil's enthusiasm was not something that had changed during his exile. Though… Something else did. "So my old pupil… How do you think your brats will do out there?"

Anko smiled in thought, "Well… I don't know everything they've been up to," She admitted, "I refused to give them any training without the other two present so I don't accidentally eliminate one of my own through the teachings to another. Plus there's been this fiasco with Tokuro's spying and worrying about you guys getting caught and all hell breaking loose…" She trailed off.

"Naruto and Kiba almost look more interested in kicking that Uchiha kid's ass as they do winning the competition or ranking up," She laughed, "And I know both of them have been working hard the entire time."

"And what of the other?"

"He's being his usual lazy self I'm sure… But that could make him easy to underestimate, especially since his 'fight' against Choji was a damn joke," She condemned, apparently still upset at her student for that one, "He's a Nara, you know how they are."

"Of course…" Orochimaru agreed, carefully setting the tea down after another sip, "Is he as smart as his father?"

"As smart as Shikaku was at this age maybe, yeah."

"Interesting," He commented, "What about Naruto… He impressed me with that stunt he pulled with the garter snakes against that Aburame."

"Smarter than people think; he has a habit of getting underestimated… I wish I had that quality," She muttered, "His chakra reserve is ridiculous, but that's obvious… He's been learning stuff from Genma, stuff I couldn't show him when he asked."

"Genma? Senbon?"

"Yup…" She confirmed, "He learning elemental jutsu for them; I visited him during one of his training sessions earlier this week, I'm surprised at how quickly he's picked up on it. If I wasn't keeping my promise to not meddle with any of their training 'til after the finals I'd make him realize he should be using a shit load of storage scrolls. With the amount of chakra he has… The limit isn't there, the limit is with how many senbon he has to throw," She assessed.

Orochimaru nodded, "Shurikenjutsu… Not a common skill among Jinchuriki."

Anko shrugged, "Well you're the man whose likely learned more jutsu than anyone alive other than maybe Itachi because of the Sharingan or the Hokage because he's in his damn seventies. And you wanted to be Hokage, well big surprise that's Naruto's dream too, and Kiba."

"The Tsuchikage's up there too," he reminded with a pondering expression, she had a point. Those were probably the people who knew more jutsu than anyone in the world… And all either became a Kage, qualified to be a Kage, or had a jutsu stealing kekkei genkai. Though Kakuzu probably knew a shit load of them too, but that man was a complicated scenario.

"A Hokage has to be skilled in most shinobi arts, it certainly won't hurt," He figured, "Kiba's going to have a tough time with a Jinchuriki as his rival for the position though," He chuckled.

"Don't count the hothead out," She smirked at her mentor, "That brat needs to tame his confidence a little, but he's just as much the real deal as the others. I'll wager that with Akamaru and Snake Ninjutsu, Kiba could beat any non-Hyuga clan member of Genin rank in a straight up fight."

"So you believe he's your best?"

"Not necessarily…" She admitted, "I said he could beat any non-Hyuga Genin, not that there aren't people who would beat him. Have him and Naruto fight ten times, neither would go undefeated. Shikamaru just has to hit someone with Shadow Possession and it's over! So of course he can beat him. The Sasuke kid has a Sharingan; that counts for something…"

"Rock Lee?" He prompted, incredulous.

"Poison…" She suggested, "In fact poison could maybe beat someone like Neji too but I'm less confidant in pulling it off against a Rotation jutsu user. To poison that guy you have to get close… And fighting Hyuga up close is stupid."

"Which is what he did against that girl," He reminded.

"And I took a piss on his ego for that idiocy!" She assured.

Orochimaru laughed as he thought of someone else, "You know… Gaara is the son of the Kazekage _and_ a Jinchuriki."

"WHAT!?" She did not know that! She scoffed, "Whatever, he's not from the Leaf so who cares? He doesn't count on what I was just saying."

He stared at her dully, "The Chunin exams aren't exclusive to the Leaf," He remarked dryly.

"So? I was just saying he could beat non-Hyuga Genin… That is a separate comment from the exams!"

He sighed, "You're just being defensive because you've been drinking."

"Fuck off sensei… I can do this all day!"

"As I recall…" Orochimaru smirked, "I beat you when we did our drinking game."

"Wh—I was a teenager! You'd have no _shot_ at beating me now!"

Orochimaru sweatdropped at that terrible pun, "We'll see about that some other time… And we didn't use shots."

"I know," She rolled her eyes, "I was just making a damn joke."

"A horrible one… That was Jiraiya-bad."

"Jiraiya's funnier than you sensei I hate to break it to ya."

He shot her a slightly offended look, "…Get out of Jiraiya's house."

* * *

Setting his instant ramen down on the table, the Uzumaki stood from his couch and walked started towards the door in wonder. _Who could that be? Kin's not training with me today…_

Upon opening the door, he was greeted with a simple: "Yo," from the bored looking Shikamaru whose hands were leisurely resting in his pockets.

"Oh, hey Shikamaru… Come on in. Want some ramen?"

Shika's eye twitched, "Thanks… But I'm good," He answered, following his teammate into the apartment and shutting the door behind him.

The Nara couldn't stop himself from gaping at what was sitting in the living room like a fish, "So," Naruto prompted, "What're you here for? You don't usually look for me at my apartment; you just check the training grounds."

"I…" He began and cut himself off with a rather irritated voice, "DO I really have to ask?" He snapped, pointing at the stack of items occupying the room.

"Oh I forgot that was there for a second…" He put his hands behind the back of his head and closed his eyes, laughing mischievously, "Are you sure it wouldn't be too much trouble to know?"

"No," He admitted, "But whatever you're doing this time is overkill if you're going to use that much—"

"Nah trust me! I'm a pranking genius, remember?"

"I thought you and Kiba put a stop to the pranks? With that one exception…"

"Yeah but I found a new exception!" Naruto insisted, "Tokuro Hyuga."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Kin's ex-sensei… Who hates Anko and locked Kin in the closet in a Genjutsu?" Okay, yeah that qualifies as an exception to Naruto and Kiba's vow to not go on pranking sprees.

"Yeah I'm gonna get that bastard!" Naruto declared, "I've got everything planned out already, but a little help might be nice. You in?"

"Naruto… I participated in ONE prank over all these years, and it was a minor role. What makes you think I would even want to?"

"Because… We're not allowed to attack fellow Leaf ninja or we'd get in trouble but apparently he can! One of his own Genin… Our teammate! And like you said he hates Anko! Which makes him hate us…"

"Yeah, yeah I know he's a total drag," he drawled.

"So help me out!" Naruto requested and rolled his eyes, "I promise it won't be too much work!"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and pointed at his supply. "Shadow clones…" Naruto reminded.

"Fine…" Shika groaned, "I know I'm going to regret doing this; I just know it."

"Great, now we just have to get the help of one other person!"

"I thought you said you were doing this alone?"

"I was… Sort of. Like I said, I planned all this out already! Most of the scheming was easy, but I had to figure out a way to sneak into the Hyuga compound which is supposed to be nearly impossible, and that was a bit of a bitch to think of."

Shikamaru's eyes widened, "Woah woah woah… I am _not_ going to do something that stupid! Whatever you came up with won't work, you're crazy. The Hyuga compound isn't 'nearly impossible' to break into… It _is_ impossible!"

Naruto stared at him deadpanned, "Where did you think I was going to use all that?" He gestured the supply, "And don't think like a burglar… Think like a shinobi. We don't have to sneak in; we need someone to bring us in at their own free will."

"So by one other person you meant Hinata?" Shikamaru asked, thinking it over.

Naruto smirked, "Exactly! Let's go find her! I know where she'd probably at because Genma-sensei actually has to train his team right now after all of them got eliminated…" Shikamaru said nothing in response but followed his teammate out the door, leaving an almost full cup of instant ramen on the table, forgotten.

"By the way," Naruto spoke up after they were already on their way down the street, "You didn't answer my question."

"Hm?"

"Why were you looking for me?"

Shikamaru grunted in annoyance, "My mom's been one 'poorly phrased comment' away from shoving a broom up my ass the past few days. I just wanted to get the hell away from her! She's been pissed ever since I said something to Ino that made her storm out of my house."

Naruto snickered, "So even your family see's it?"

"Shut up," He glared, "Our families are tight… So if I do something to piss Ino off that's like the same as pissing one of my cousins off, maybe worse because of Ino-Shika-Cho… I pissed off the daughter of one of my parents best friends. So until Ino and I make amends and she finds out, my life sucks."

"Eh it can't be that bad…" Naruto tried to wave it off, "Wait… You pissed Ino off? Uh was it 'embarrassing' in any way?" He inquired, remembering something she'd mentioned last he saw her.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"I talked to Ino in passing a few days ago; she said she had an embarrassing situation with someone to deal with that day. She was being really vague; it would kind of make sense if it was you because she probably didn't want to hear my jokes! Then Kiba happened to come by and made a joke about you guys anyway!" The blonde busted up laughing.

Shikamaru sighed, "Damn it… What exactly did Kiba say?"

"He complemented her perfume… She said it was new and Kiba made a comment about it being for you or something along those lines."

"Damn it!"

"What's the big deal? Mad that we upset your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend… But I'm betting that joke is why she never tried to talk to me after you said she was going to deal with it that day."

"Why would you say that?"

"Think about it," Shikamaru urged, "Imagine Ino thinking about how embarrassed she was about storming out of my house because of something dumb I said… And planning to confront me about it and making everything normal again… Then Kiba says that, and she goes straight back to square one being flustered and embarrassed."

"That doesn't make any sense," Naruto deadpanned, "You're overanalyzing…"

"She's a woman! It's not supposed to make sense! That's why they're so much more troublesome than even you or Kiba. Besides… You don't know why she stormed out in the first place… I kind of accused her of acting like my girlfriend when she came into my room, woke me up, and got mad at me for not remembering we were supposed to have lunch."

Naruto laughed hysterically.

"Troublesome…" ignoring the outburst of laughter.

"Yeah, okay," Naruto admitted, somewhat stifling his amusement, "What're you going to do about it?"

The Nara shook his head, "Beats me… Let's just worry about this pranking thing for now."

"All right…" Naruto agreed, "Over there!" He pointed ahead in rather convenient timing, where Hinata and Shino could be spotted.

"Hinata!" Naruto called out, that alone managing to make the shy girl feel like curling into a ball and dying.

"N-Nartuo… H-H-Hii."

"Greetings Naruto…" Shino respectfully remarked, "Have the days since my defeat treated you well?"

"Uh yeah I'm great Shino, sorry about the exams but… I did what I had to do!"

"Do not apologize, Naruto… I would like to say that I would have done the same in your position, though it is not clear to me how you maintained any control after my poison was inserted into your system."

 _Oh great…_ Shikamaru inwardly groaned, _Here's a topic we don't want to discuss._

"It is most unusual; I am always very thorough about making sure all my poisons are prepared for adequate use. I do not wish to pry Naruto, but do you have a secret that enabled you to overcome it? You should have been immobilized."

"Uhh… No of course not! No secrets, nothing at all," _Except the demonic tenant living inside me with nine tails comprised of chakra that would like to burst out of me so he can fucking devour you._ Seeing Shino's suspicious look, he backtracked, "I do heal really fast though… Maybe that has something to do with it?" He suggested.

"Interesting," Was all Shino said, "Is that an Uzumaki kekkei genkai?"

"I don't know… No one ever tells me anything about my clan," Naruto admitted truthfully and somewhat bitterly.

"Hmm.. I'll ask my parents about this; perhaps they will know something of relevance to you. And perhaps I'll find the error in my failed attempt to take you out of the match."

Naruto smiled, "That would be great… I'd love to learn something about my clan. All I can ever get out of the old man or Anko-sensei is: 'They were a strong and feared clan but as far as we know you're the only one alive' blah blah blah."

 _Naruto, you're encouraging him to start snooping around? What if he somehow finds out something we DON'T need him to learn. Something gigantic and furry, damn it_ Shikamaru chastised in his head.

"I'll try and find something out for you," The insect user promised.

"Thanks, I really appreciate that."

Hinata throughout this whole time had been regaining her confidence to speak; the last thing she ever expected was Naruto to come searching for _her_ and shout _her_ name from out of the blue like that. She may have come a long way under Genma since the academy, but she momentarily retreated into the depths of her mental shell out of surprise, "N-Naruto? Why were you looking for me?"

"To ask if you would mind having company over tonight."

Hinata's face turned red as a cherry. He wanted to visit her… At her house? Tonight? Alone? WHAT?

"Did you just ask my little kunoichi out?" Genma asked incredulously, as he and Choji appeared from wherever they had been. He'd seen how Hinata had an interest in Naruto, but so far it seemed like the Uzumaki was oblivious to it.

"Hey guys," Choji greeted with a curious look on his face, interested in what they just walked into.

"No," Naruto replied, confused, "If I was doing that… It would be a little weird for Shikamaru to come over with me, now wouldn't it?"

What? Shikamaru… Oh. He didn't want to visit her to be with her for reasons like _that._ How disappointing… Well at least he needed her for something, right?

"You didn't specify that Shikamaru would accompany you," Shino explained.

"Oh, my bad…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "We just need her help with something that's all. We'll owe her one."

"If it's not too much trouble," Shikamaru added, "But you know… Things usually are."

Naruto elbowed his negative teammate to shut him up, "What do you say, Hinata?" He asked, smiling brightly, looking right into her eyes as he asked this favor.

She didn't stand a chance.

* * *

"Eww… What the f—"

"Kin? What are you doing here?" A cheerful Kiba dropped on all fours along with Akamaru, "Oh…"

"Is this _urine_?"

"Maybe…"

" _DOG URINE?"_

"…Yes."

"God damn it Kiba."

"Sorry about that," Kiba cringed, "We didn't even know you were here! We started on something new in our training today and it's admittedly really gross."

"What kind of training involves your dog pissing like crazy?" She deadpanned.

"Training that is intended to practice his aim… Look, Inuzuka have greatly enhanced sense of smell, right? Well dog urine is a very strong stench and—"

Kin glared at him, "You don't say?"

After an awkward chuckle, Kiba continued, "And if Akamaru hits a target with it, they're 'marked' and I can easily keep track of them even if they escape we'll never lose their trail! So believe it or not, dog piss is pretty useful."

Kin sighed, understanding the point of it now, "Whatever… Now I need to change," She glared at Akamaru who then cowered behind Kiba.

"Let's head over to your place then?" Kiba suggested, "I have no idea where you live though, so I may as well find out."

"Yeah all right, come on…"

She turned around and started walking and the relaxed Inuzuka joined her side, "Sorry again, I didn't even notice you. How'd you know we were there?"

"I went to your house; Hana told me where to find you."

"Ah, that figures. Need something?"

"Not really," Kin answered, pushing some of her lengthy hair behind her ears where it belonged, "I'm just trying to get to know you and Shikamaru better."

"What about Naruto?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've seen way more of him than you too; he doesn't have clan training… And neither of us have families so it's a lot easier to see him on a daily basis if I want."

"Makes sense, even if it sucks to look at it from that perspective," Kiba stated.

Kin smiled to the contrary, "Don't get depressed on me, I'm more than happy to be in the Leaf village."

"Still, being an orphan isn't fair."

"True, but if I center my life around that where does it get me?"

The Inuzuka said nothing, but had a brief thought of the vengeful and arrogant Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

Sasuke sneezed after performing the jutsu a second time.

"Well done, Sasuke," Kakashi approved, ruffling the young Genin's hair to the latter's annoyance.

"You're getting a lot better with it, honestly. But Sakura would've already mastered it by now."

Sasuke glared at his mentor for that, but Kakashi continued, "The difference between your chakra control is the difference here," Kakashi explained, "You understand the technique, and you're doing it properly, but you have refinement to do. If she managed to wrap her head around it as far as you have, she'd be finished by now."

Sasuke scoffed at the insinuation, but didn't argue at the man's point. Sakura (and Ino for that matter) had great chakra control. In the Land of Waves, he was the last person to master tree walking, as painful to his pride that had been. He could've asked them for help… But well, Kakashi kept them the hell away after they both were ready to advance because their incessant cheering for him as he progressed and bitching at each other _might_ have been more annoying to the Jonin than it was to him.

Still, having superior chakra control made it easier to perform those stupid exercises and now he was telling him that he'd have already mastered Raikiri if his was on par with Sakura? _Damn it! I would have time to learn another jutsu if I could just…_ His thoughts trailed off. Maybe instead of wanting a shortcut and a bunch of powerful jutsu to catch up to Itachi, he should concern himself with chakra control. After all, it would appear elite chakra control equated to progressing through the learning curve of jutsu quicker, which… in hindsight… it seems obvious. Besides, he had the Sharingan… He could definitely pick up more jutsu in the meantime.

This was of course, counting on missions after the Chunin exam finals, since there was no possible way to reach the mastery of chakra control he needed in the span of eleven days. Even if it were, he then wouldn't be able to put that control to use by copying Ninjutsu from people, and that wasn't even taking into account he wasn't done with Raikiri yet.

"One more time Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded, before Kakashi would only let him perform the technique twice in one day. Now, it seemed Kakashi wanted him to try for three. Lightning hummed as he generated the radical looking Chidori, and then evolved into a blade and took on a blue hue as opposed to white and he lashed out at the next boulder. The Raikiri forced its way through most of the thick boulder but dissipated just before he made it completely through and he dropped to his knees panting like a dog that just chased its tail for thirty minutes, "Damn it," He grunted.

"Maintaining the jutsu will become easier as your chakra control improves and as you practice; this is expected," Kakashi massaged his ego, "However, never do it more than three times again until I tell you that you're ready for it."

Sasuke's eyes widened with rage, "You just told me to do it!"

"I did," Kakashi freely admitted in a cheerful, laid back tone, "But only to prove a point," he said, narrowing his uncovered eye on Sasuke seriously, "I don't need to unveil my Sharingan to see that you feel like you just ran about a thousand kilometers. So consider this your reminder to never use it three times in one day, it's not safe and doing so could get you or one of your comrades killed."

"I understand," Sasuke claimed, "I won't do it," he promised.

"Good, then let's go get something to eat, shall we? You'll need to replenish your chakra a little bit if we're going to make further use of this day."

Ignoring the mention of food for the moment, "Sensei… How many times can _you_ perform Raikiri in one day?"

"Me? Six times, it's a chakra killer, but I think I'm a special case. My Sharingan is a foreign ability, unlike yours. And as I mentioned to you when we started this training, Sharingan is a requirement for both the Chidori and the Raikiri. If I had your natural eyes, it would take less of a toll on me, and I would be willing to bet my control would improve. I'm not saying I'll never be able to do more than six, but for now… It's what I've got."

"So you're saying I should have an easier time than you in expanding the amount of times I can perform the technique?" He asked, sounding pleased by the prospect.

"It's only a theory, but I would think so."

"Hn…" Sasuke replied, a pondering look on his face.

"Come on; the sooner you eat the sooner we return to training…" Kakashi advised with a bored tone as he pulled out Icha Icha and began walking away, Sasuke in tow.

 _Raikiri already? Kakashi… You're a generous teacher._ Itachi thought to himself, watching the two of them venture from the training ground from one of the trees, clad in his Barracuda ANBU outfit.

 _Then again, you have a bit of a soft spot for us Uchiha, don't you?_ The elder of Fugaku's sons considered. _Most of our clan shunned you because of what Obito did; but you were one of the only ones in ANBU when I first joined who treated me with the same respect and kindness you expected of me._ That all changed once the skeptical elites of ANBU were around the prodigy awhile, and no one complained when he was made a captain. That was one badass thirteen year old.

 _I understand why the Hokage chose you to be Sasuke's mentor; you were a great mentor to me and you are the only one available to show him how to use his Sharingan. But I can't help but wonder, if Obito's sacrifice makes him feel obligated._

Too bad Itachi couldn't speak with Kakashi about it… Some random ANBU confronting him about his painful past and asking nosy questions wouldn't sit well, nor would it be remotely helpful in keeping himself mostly off the radar even as 'Barracuda.'

* * *

"PERRY! PERRY! PERRY!" The crowd on TV chanted as Orochimaru stuffed popcorn in his mouth, sitting to the right of Kankuro who was to the right of Gaara.

The camera briefly shifted over to the crowd before going back to the guests on the Perry Summer show as the woman started to attack the male before security rushed over to break them up, "Fuck you, bitch! Fuck you!" The man shouted at the woman.

"Don't call me a bitch! You worthless shithead!"

"I'll say whatever the fuck I want to you bitch! Go home and fuck yourself a few times! Shove a cucumber in there and get it stuck!"

"If I did that with a cucumber I'd be more a man than you!" She screamed back.

"I have no idea why Temari always bitches when you put this on…" The Sannin stated.

Kankuro laughed, and reached into the popcorn bowl himself, "Because, when it comes to TV, Temari's an idiot!"

Gaara glanced at the other two briefly at the mention of his sister but went back to staring at the TV without a trace of emotion on his face.

"Sensei on the other hand I don't get… You'd think he doesn't even have a TV at home or something." Baki wasn't in the room, and was instead upstairs reading something where it was more quiet, as Kankuro liked to turn the volume up for his favorite show.

"Maybe he doesn't," Orochimaru mused.

"That's ridiculous, what kind of Jonin doesn't buy a TV!?"

"I don't have a TV," Orochimaru pointed out.

"Meh… You don't really count," Kankuro waved off. The whole Orochimaru's a rogue ninja but is actually secretly associated with the Leaf thing was a confusing clusterfuck to Kankuro and he wasn't even going to try and comprehend it.

The pair of supposed exes on the reality show continued their verbal spout, "At least I maintain myself!" She spat, "I can barely find yours in that mess it's so damn tiny!"

"Fuck you!" The man shouted back for the millionth time, "At least I have hair where a man's supposed to, unlike those legs of yours!"

"YOU FUCKING LIAR!" The female proceeded to pull her pant leg up for the camera to zoom in on and Kankuro stared at it with mild interest.

"Woah! Shaving what a fucking concept!" The guy stated, "First time since I met her probably, must've got tired of looking like a fucking sasquatch!" He cringed.

Needless to say, the woman tried to attack the man again.

Temari then walked into the room, just returning from some mild training. Nothing important, she just needed to make sure that she didn't get out of shape from doing nothing all the time around Jiraiya's and ever since the incident between the Foundation and Baki… Jiraiya was no longer 'away from the village' and so they were free to come and go from his place at their leisure.

"Ugh… You're watching that shit again…" Temari commented, annoyance evident in her voice.

Just to agitate her, Kankuro raised the volume up a little more and when the crowd started chanting he joined in, "PERRY! PERRY! PERRY!"

Temari let an annoyed growl escape her lips as she set her fan down and headed towards the kitchen, but was stopped by the Snake Sannin who called her name from the couch, "Wait, Temari!"

"What is it?"

"Itachi and I have to attend a meeting with our Akatsuki 'colleagues,' tomorrow… Have our cloaks washed would you, my dear."

Her eyebrow twitched slightly at the last part, she _hated_ that he had a habit of saying that. She wasn't sure if it was just to her because she was a girl or because he found her attractive, (God help her if that's the case) but it was annoying. They weren't close, why did she put up with it? Oh yeah, he's a Sannin… And definitely not the more perverted of the Sannin.

"Why me?" She asked, "I just got back… Have Kankuro do it!"

"I'm not forcing Kankuro to forfeit his turn with the TV to do something you could do instead, so you can conveniently steal the control," Orochimaru explained.

"Well… What about Gaara?"

"I refuse."

"That's all he had to do… Then what's to stop me from refusing?!"

"Well you see… Gaara never complains about anything, you and Kankuro do… So I won't make Gaara do it."

"You can't make me do it either," Temari smirked, "You're a 'rogue ninja,' remember?"

"Maybe so, but you know fully that I'm with the Leaf, and outrank you."

"And I'm from the Sand, so I don't care."

"We're in Leaf territory," Orochimaru smirked.

 _Damn it…_ "Uh… Well—"She paused, then grinned like dirty politician on election day, "Well you can't force me to do your laundry unless you give me D-Rank pay!"

Orochimaru frowned, she actually had a point. Was he seriously about to get outsmarted by some foreign Genin brat? Then the obvious solution hit him, and he chuckled while locking his eyes up, feigning defeat, "Very well… I'll just wait for Jiraiya to come home and he'll take care of it along with everyone else's."

"Wait, what? Jiraiya's doing all the laundry?"

"It's his turn."

"That pervert is NOT touching my underwear!"

"Then do the laundry!"

She scowled, having lost this battle after all, "Damn it, I hate Sannin!"

* * *

"You're free to go."

The brooding Hyuga said nothing, and was on his way the moment he was told. He scowled when he got outside, it was raining… Being locked up for three days since Orochimaru supposedly fled the village again was bad enough. But now it was raining? There was no way he would catch onto the Sannin's trail now, it was a dead end and there was no point in him investigating now.

Could those who investigated already have missed something..? Yes. Would something so difficult to pick up on be noticed now? Hell no.

All Tokuro Hyuga could do now is head home… Back to the compound of the Branch family, back to the comfort of his bed and have himself a nice home cooked meal after being treated to shit the last three days. A shower would be nice too, and fortunately he was one of the few people who preferred nighttime showers, so he never had an issue getting one despite having such a large clan. There were always available showers at these hours.

Having made it to the compound, he ignored the looks of fellow Hyuga that had no doubt heard of the rumors of his detainment. But quite frankly, Tokuro didn't care about anything right now, and especially not other people's opinions of his character. He wanted Orochimaru's head on a platter… And he believed that Danzo Shimura was a trustworthy, honorable person who could help him achieve that goal. Apparently, he was gravely wrong.

Who would've thought that Danzo was a psycho traitor that had an arm full of Sharingan and desired the position of Fifth Hokage? Planning to kill the Third to take the position? Using the capture of a Sand ninja by the name of Baki to lure the Third out. Tokuro grit his teeth at the thought of Baki. It was the whole reason why he'd been detained… Baki was the man _he_ accused of being Orochimaru. Tokuro had nothing to do with Danzo's move for the hat! And that cost him three days of his freedom, as well as an opportunity to pick up his old sensei's trail.

 _And sensei just happened to escape while Danzo was betraying the Hokage? In other words… He bolted out amidst the chaos! Thanks a lot Danzo, you stupid old bastard._

The angry Hyuga made his way down the hall, passing by a few more of his cousins that each gave him analytical looks that he promptly ignored. He made it to his room, entered and shut it behind him before gaping at it in shock. He quickly exited, thinking he was so lost in his thoughts he opened the wrong door, and that whoever the occupant of that one was, needed to be handed into T&I.

However, in the hallway his mind stopped as he looked around…He made no mistake. That WAS his room.

He frantically went back in and locked the door behind him so no one could drop by and see this… this… vandalism

"What. The. Fuck!" He blurted.

Now, like all Hyuga… Tokuro swearing was a rare sight. Back in his teen years he did so a little more than anyone else from his clan, likely the side affect of hanging out with Anko, but he got passed that trend a long, long time ago. In fact, he hadn't sworn a single time while in the Leaf's custody while they sorted things out because of Danzo.

Now, he had just sworn in his thoughts about Danzo, and aloud at the current state of his room.

Before him, was (for the most part) his furniture and belongings exactly where he left them. However, his bed sheets had been changed as well as the pillow cases, the replacements having the Uchiha crest on them, one of the Hyuga's oldest rivals.

And that wasn't the only Uchiha reference taunting him… Someone took the time to paint a pair of Sharingan on one of his walls!

Dirty magazines littered the floor, and he did not need a Byakugan to see that those photos were _not_ women.

There was a scroll resting against his alarm clock that was titled 'sex hotlines', (for women or men he had no clue)

His rug was gone completely… Apparently the vandal _s_ (there was no way one person did all of this) tore his entire rug up and painted the floor beneath it an eye straining bright pink, and then presumably after waiting for that to dry… painted a face on the floor that was smiling, with another fucking Sharingan.

Pictures that used to be sitting around on his nightstand and dresser were replaced with pictures of Orochimaru… which Tokuro immediately gathered and used a small fire jutsu on. Oddly, all of the pictures had been exactly the same.

He quickly checked his personal bathroom, which was the equivalent of a small closet with a mirror, sink and toilet, and almost thought they'd done nothing to it… Until he noticed something was floating in the toilet…

His toothbrush.

Growling with rage he left it there and checked his closet, where his clothes wreaked of urine and a dozen water bottles laid on the floor.

Tokuro rubbed his temple, trying to calm himself when he noticed something he somehow hadn't seen when he first scanned the room over. On the ceiling, the vandals painted in big letters: 'HAIL LORD JASHIN!'

* * *

Elsewhere, all of the Genin from Team Six were hanging out with on Shikamaru's roof, drinking root beers, where Kiba and Kin were laughing at pictures Shikamaru took of the room while Naruto and his clones had been finishing things up on their prank.

"I wish you would've asked me to help… I kind of owe him one you know," Kin chuckled.

Naruto smirked at the newer member of Team six at what he interpreted as a volunteer, "Well you can help me with the final phase of this instead of Shika then!"

"What's that?" She asked.

Naruto pulled out a large envelope and grinned, "We took A LOT of pictures just like those ones… And A LOT of people in the village are going to see what Tokuro Hyuga's room looks like!"

"You're kidding! Whose going to even fall for that!"

Naruto shrugged, "Who cares? It will at least create a lot of interesting rumors, and there's no way he'll get the placed fixed up before the clan head finds out. If anything, the clan is going to be upset at him now because he's the source of bad rep… First his affiliation to this weird betrayal stuff that's been going on, and now the supposedly one hundred percent secure Hyuga compound was either infiltrated and pranked on or that's Tokuro's _actual_ way of having his room and both are realllly bad looks for the Hyuga."

"How _did_ you guys get in anyway?"

"Hinata," Shikamaru drawled.

"Seriously?"

"Yep…" Naruto confirmed.

"Wow…"

"I wish I could see his face when he saw those Orochimaru pictures! Where'd you even get those? You didn't search through Anko-sensei's house or something did you?" Kiba interrupted them.

"Nah… I bought several copies of the bingo book and tore his entry out of each," Naruto replied.

Kiba laughed, "Good… Sensei would skin you alive if you broke into her place and stole stuff, even shit like that!"

"I thought you said you never prank, Shikamaru?" Kin prompted, as this was now the second time he participated in the short time she'd known them all.

"I don't… But Naruto talked me into this one, the troublesome bastard."

Naruto grinned cheekily, "Ah come on, admit it! It was fun to do that stuff to him!"

"I didn't think it was _that_ fun," Shikamaru insisted, "I would've rather sat right here and watched the clouds than go through all that trouble again… But I had to get away from you-know-who."

Kiba shot him an inquisitive look but Shikamaru didn't dare say it, "You-know-who has an intuitive kekkei genkai that knows when I'm talking about her if I'm within a certain distance."

Naruto laughed so hard root beer came out of his nose, knowing who he was talking about from their earlier conversation, but Kiba misinterpreted, "Ino?"

Shika facepalmed, "That's never going to end is it?"

"Nope."

"He means his mom," Naruto supplied.

"SHIKAMARU! HOW LONG ARE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS GOING TO STAY OUT THERE? IT'S GETTING LATE AND WE HAVE A COUCH YOU KNOW?!"

Shikamaru glared at Naruto as if to say: See what I mean?

"Wow…" Naruto muttered, "Troublesome…"

 ** _A/N:_** **Lolz poor Toke**

 **To anyone sitting here going: "Why not just Chidori?" I don't believe the step from Chidori and Raikiri is that big of a deal. I think it's just a matter of tons of practice and chakra control… Chidori is only good for one thing, assassinations and one shot kills in battle. In canon, Kakashi taught it to him because they knew ahead of time that his opponent was Gaara… So Kakashi lazily just went with that, it's not like teaching S-Rank Ninjutsu to rookie Genin is commonplace.**

 **That said, I wanted him to still learn it, but not a kill-only jutsu so I took it straight to Raikiri… Cause one shot kill jutsu for the fucking Chunin exams is screwed up. Yes, it makes sense in the context of canon because it's a rampant Jinchuriki that wants to feast on Sasuke's insides… But not in the context of this story, they have no clue who he'll face.**

 **Raikiri doesn't have to kill the opponent, but good luck walking away unscathed.**

 **...PERRY PERRY PERRY! I'm sure that reference is way more obvious than the subtle joke a couple chapters ago now lol Don't be surprised if I do something with that again some day**

 **Pointa out**


	30. Countdown

**Chapter 30: Countdown**

 ** _A/N:_** **30 :O**

 **Didn't realize it when I wrote the A/Ns up last chapter but I crossed 200k words on the story with that update, so thank you all for your support :)**

 **Last chapter was kind of a kickback and chill chapter after the Danzo hunting chapter but today we're getting more on track again… The plot shall thicken a bit!**

 **I wrote this chapter completely differently at first and wound up trashing it and writing this version instead, liking it much better. At any rate, I hope yall enjoy!**

"What's taking you so long? The boss needs you!" A Chunin shouted at some poor Genin that was placing the final of three decorative flower pots down in the Kage's box of the arena.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" The Genin kunoichi shrieked, passing him by muttering something about slave driving Jonin-senseis.

The Chunin she left behind made sure no one was watching and kneeled by one of the plants in the corner, smiling, and "This will do nicely…" He said, yanking the flower out of the pot.

* * *

"Name," Kotetsu yawned, growing very bored with his assignment, all he wanted to do was get out of there and grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the arena to watch the Chunin exam finals.

"Rasa Sabaku, Fourth Kazekage."

The raspy announcement was enough to make Kotetsu's eyes bulge out of his head and fall out of his chair like a dumbass. Izumo sighed at his partner's antics and gave the Kazekage a quick but polite bow, and signed him in, then gesturing for Rasa's sole bodyguard to give his identity as well.

"Lord Kazekage! We've been awaiting your arrival," Baki greeted, with Temari and Kankuro behind him.

"Hey dad," Temari greeted with a smile.

"Yo," Kankuro chimed.

Rasa's eye twitched at his son's greeting, but had a feeling he did it just to irritate him. Just like he wore that makeup to annoy his aunt, and watched Perry Summer to annoy Temari. Strangely, he couldn't really think of something he did to annoy Gaara, but Gaara was a pretty simple person and used to be terrifying.

"It's good to see all of you," He returned, "But where's Gaara?"

"He's already at the arena, the exams will start up in under two hours," Baki supplied.

"Very well," The Kage replied, staring at the burn marks on Baki's half veiled face, thinking about the last message he read from the Jonin describing his capture by Danzo Shimura's people.

"Oh good, you're still alive Baki," Rasa's guard joked, rejoining the group, "If you weren't, my wife would've probably overthrown Lord Kazekage to declare war and wipe them all out if he didn't himself."

"Don't say things like that in public! We're literally in their village," Temari deadpanned in hushed but angry voice.

Baki chuckled to himself, "Kinyasu… It's been awhile."

"So it has; that was one hell of a target to drop on us like that. I wanted to go, but the message specifically asked for Pakura…" He trailed off.

Baki gave a nod of understanding, knowing full well why Kinyasu and Pakura didn't like to take missions with one another, "Don't blame me, it wasn't _my_ request."

"Let's chat somewhere more secluded," Rasa suggested in a tone that left no room for argument.

* * *

"What do you think he could've found out?" Kiba asked in a skeptical tone, "How do you know he won't just make stuff up? You said no one's ever given you real information or background on your clan… Not even Anko-sensei or the Hokage."

"You don't have to remind me," Naruto sulked.

"Look, I'm just saying… I don't see why Shino's parents or any of his clan would provide you with more than our own sensei!"

Naruto leaned in closer to Kiba and whispered as they walked, "I would agree with you, but we both know the adults keep secrets from us. No matter how dark or important they are to us," He said and Kiba knew exactly what he was referencing, the Kyuubi.

He wasn't convinced however, "If Anko's not allowed to share that, why would someone else? It would have to be common knowledge among Jonin that it's classified or something."

Naruto shrugged, "I'm trying to be positive and open minded here…"

"Well let's make it quick, we don't have much time!" Kiba urged.

The big day had finally arrived, the Chunin exam finals! A month of hard work and training was soon to be put to the test for the (original) members of Team Six as well as a few of their other classmates, Kin's former teammates and a few rival village's standouts as well. Instead of tag team matches, the finals would be simple one on ones, and speculated upon by a large crowd in a coliseum of other shinobi and rich people who will inevitably place lots of bets which equates to profit for the host village that just so happened to be the Leaf.

Right now, Kiba and Naruto were in a hurry to meet Shino before things could get started in the arena. The Aburame had stayed true to his word, pestering his clan for information about Naruto's background which Naruto had explained to Kiba that Shino had been interested in figuring out how Naruto was not fully immobilized by the poison in their fight.

Approaching the dango shop in question, Naruto called out: "Shino! Over here!" The enthused Uzumaki rushed over, Kiba in tow. The Aburame heir merely gave a curt nod in reply and Kiba did nothing but stare at the strange, stoic Genin.

"Did you find anything out? Am I even more awesome than we all previously knew?" Naruto grinned provoking a silent eye roll from his present teammate.

Shino ignored the joke completely, getting straight to the point, "It is most unusual… My father and the clan were not forthcoming at all with information."

Naruto slumped in defeat, "What…? Why did I think there was a chance?"

"I'm sorry Naruto…" Shino apologized. "I know this is not my business, but I get the feeling you're your heritage has been buried by the adults. For what reason? I do not know."

"That's weird," Kiba muttered, "Why would they do that?"

"Precisely why I called it unusual."

"I kinda got that the first time," Kiba grumbled.

Naruto frowned for a moment in thought, this was something he needed to demand be addressed by either Anko-sensei or the old man. If he was a ninja and supposedly a lawful 'adult,' then he shouldn't be kept in the dark like this. If some of those in the village really _did_ know more than the Hokage and Anko claimed, then it was bullshit that they continued to conceal it from him.

"It's all right, thanks anyway Shino!" He smiled, though it was obviously fake which Kiba took notice of.

"We better get going… We don't want to be late like Kakashi-sensei always is! See ya around, Shino."

As Naruto and Kiba started towards the arena, Kiba shot the blonde an odd look, "Kakashi-sensei's always late?"

"Yeah, according to Ino at least…"

"But he's a Jonin!"

"I know! How can someone be like one of the strongest ninja in the village and be that unprofessional?" Naruto deadpanned, "Come to think of it, there's that old guy too… The one Anko-sensei beat up the first time Shikamaru and I saw him. Apparently he's an old pervert who writes the porn Kakashi reads."

"Wait, you mean Jiraiya?"

"Yeah, that old guy!"

Kiba didn't bother voicing his next thought; _Maybe I should start reading porn… It might help me become Hokage, who knows?_

"Ay, you all right Naruto?"

"Huh? Yeah…"

"You had to force a smile back there, that's not like you… Just thought I'd ask."

Naruto smiled at his friend, "I'm fine, I just get a bit sore when it comes to never getting anywhere in finding out about my clan. It makes no sense to me; no one seems to know anything… But the old man said the Uzumaki were really strong."

"Let me know if you find a lead and need some help, I'll be there for ya," The Inuzuka promised.

"Thanks."

Kiba shot him a feral grin, "No need to."

* * *

"It's been a long time since we've all gathered like this," Deidara commented, "But aren't we going to wait for my man Sasori? And what about Orochimaru and… _Itachi_ ," He bitterly added.

The emotionless gaze of the leader's Rinnegan tilted their attention to the former Stone ninja, "Those whom you just mentioned are the reason this meeting is needed."

"Oh?" Kisame spoke up, intrigued, "And why is that?"

Kakuzu's form flickered as he too looked at Pein with an interested gleam in his green irises. Tobi could be seen to the side of them mumbling something to himself that likely held no importance and Zetsu was across from them by Deidara with a gap separating them from Pein and Konan, making a triangle of sorts.

"Sasori is dead," Pein pronounced.

"What?" Deidara blurted out, unbelieving, "How could _anyone_ be strong enough to kill Sasori while holding Orochimaru and Itachi off at the same time!?"

"He was alone," Pein answered simply, "Itachi would only allow his partner to accompany him into the Leaf village itself, and we have reason to believe they are traitors. Sasori's location within the Land of Fire was pinpointed by the Sand and he was slain by Pakura of the Scorch Style and her team."

The shock melted off Deidara's face and his illuminated form shut it's eyes as he smirked and laughed quietly to himself. _So Itachi's gone traitor on us eh? Good… I may have another chance to make him experience my art yet!_

"So we're down three members? That could be problematic…" Kisame remarked.

"Replacements will be recruited, in fact if everything goes according to plan we will already have a new set of Sharingan on our side," Pein assured, Deidara's mood taking a dip at the mention of the near-extinct Dojutsu.

"But we need Orochimaru and Itachi's rings; Zetsu already retrieved Sasori's from his puppet-corpse in the Hidden Sand village."

"Retrieve their rings, hm? So that's why you sent me to the Land of Fire, I had assumed I was linking up with Sasori."

"You are only partially correct, Deidara. While the rings are an objective, I have something more grand in mind," Pein replied, turning his attention to the masked form.

"Tobi, are things in order?

"Yes sir!" The childish persona saluted, "I will keep you posted once my scouts have reported back further developments!"

Kisame chuckled, "Tobi's bossing people around? Good lord…" For once, Kakuzu snorted in agreement with his shark-like partner.

Ignoring them, "Excellent, you know how much is at stake here."

Before Deidara could pry any further on just what the fuck he was doing in the Land of Fire, Kakuzu interrupted, "Did anyone cash in on Sasori's bounty…?"

* * *

In the Kage's box of the arena, Sarutobi sighed relaxingly. He was relieved to see the exam finals were finally here, and it seemed like nothing was going to go wrong. He'd just been notified the Kazekage would be joining him in the box shortly, and almost all of the Genin participants were in the confines of the arena. Due to hectic events surrounding Danzo and the Foundation as well as the aftermath of rescuing Baki, the Third hadn't gotten a ton of sleep over the last ten or so days but he would likely rest well after this was over.

Behind him, were his two ANBU bodyguards, each clad in their armor but not the masks. One of them smoking a cigarette, enjoying it because he knew he wasn't supposed to smoke in the presence of the Kazekage. Honestly, some of the laws of formality and politeness were stupid, but he'd follow it for the village's sake. That said, as far as Asuma was concerned, if the Kazekage of all people would explode over a cigarette the Sand village didn't have a wonderful future ahead of them.

The other guard was taking a closer look at the decorative plant in the corner. _How bizarre…_ She mused. The plant in question was a good four feet tall, sticking up within a flower pot. Its leaves were closed up in a shell of sorts, reminding her of a Venus fly trap but obviously bigger, "Whoever picked this ugly thing out…" She muttered.

"Dad, they're here," Asuma whispered, extinguishing his smoke.

With Raido back in the village from the mission he sent him off on 'unexpectedly' in order to have an excuse for Asuma to be the preliminaries proctor and with Danzo dead, it made sense to give the scarred Jonin his position back for the finals and have Asuma present for his security detail. He chose Yugao as the second body guard because he felt that with the line of conversations they would be having with the Kazekage inevitable it made sense to have two of the members of the mission present as opposed to others.

Rasa Sabaku, the Hidden Sand's Fourth Kazekage, made his appearance with two of his own bodyguards. He gave his fellow Kage a nod and even a faint smile, which he wasn't known to do often and that told Hiruzen he was very pleased about something so Baki must've kept the Leaf's back whenever the two presumably spoke earlier. Speaking of Baki, the still mildly banged up Jonin was actually one of the bodyguards, which was surprising as Hiruzen knew the man couldn't be one-hundred percent still.

The second bodyguard was a muscular man of average height, with a tanned skin tone that honestly looked like it simmered just a bit from too much patrol duty without proper garments or something. He had green eyes and very short ebony hair that stuck up just slightly due to what Hiruzen would assume is gel. He wore a customized Jonin vest of the usual tan that most Sand Jonin wore but it was bulkier and appeared heavier. On his right arm was a red sleeve, whereas his left arm only had a half sleeve that covered his wrist to elbow, likely to avoid concealing the dark green tattoo that represented his clan insignia on his arm. Strapped to his back was a long and also heavy looking staff with a thick, brick shaped tip with kunai-like blades peppering throughout the tips' surface ideal for plunging people who get too close.

 _That clan symbol,_ Yugao thought, also noticing it, and stepping away from the peculiar plant. _He was the last one of them after the Third War. The Jishaku clan._

The Jishaku clan had been one of the Sand's few kekkei genkai wielding families. They, like some Sabaku members and a few other clans throughout the elemental nations, possessed Magnet Style. Unfortunately for both the clan and the village, during the last war every Jishaku member that inherited the ability was slain except one man.

Rumor had it that this lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) man nearly died on a regular mission that had nothing to do with the war shortly after it and only survived because Pakura of the Scorch Style had been there for him.

 _What an unconventional weapon,_ Asuma thought to himself, _If this guy is who I think he is, that staff is very deceptive. He's a mid-long range fighter before a close range guy._

"Welcome, Lord Kazekage! I hope your trip wasn't too unpleasant."

"It was fine," Rasa replied, taking his seat and crossing his arms comfortably, "I do not wish to spit on your hospitality, Lord Hokage… But I am eager to discuss some things with you in private… Preferably before the exams are underway," He cut to the point, his tone serious.

"If this is about Baki, I assure you that you can trust these two," Hiruzen gestured his bodyguards, "Both of them assisted me in the rescue effort, and one of them happens to be my son," He informed, "Your guards may remain as well of course, if you want them to be here. Baki's been through quite a bit of it anyway."

Rasa contemplated that for a moment, then nodded, "That is acceptable," he then looked at each of them in the eye for the first time with a serious expression, "I thank all of you, Baki is a valued member of my village. From what he's told me, you all went above and beyond to rectify Danzo Shimura's mistakes."

Hiruzen laughed to break the ice, "There's no need to thank us, I'm just an old man trying to keep his village from going to war and pulling a miserable political thorn out of my side that has been digging at me for decades."

Rasa chuckled himself, "It is good to know the other Kage's, even the one residing in the strongest village… Still face political opposition."

"They're vultures, aren't they?" Hiruzen groaned.

"You have no idea…" Rasa claimed, "The reason why I didn't arrive until today, is because I cannot afford to spend any more time than necessary away from the village or those fools will take advantage of my absence."

"Politics," Asuma shook his head, that side of life always disgusted him, and it only got worse when he started devoting time to being an ANBU guarding his father in the office most of his time on duty.

"Baki's filled me in on _everything_ ; are you sure you still want them present?" Rasa warned, hinting that he wanted to discuss Orochimaru and Itachi.

"They're in the loop."

"Very well," Rasa accepted, and Baki now intensified his attention to the conversation, extremely interested in substantive details regarding the two rogues he'd been working with. The other guard from the Sand perked up slightly as well, he'd been there when Baki briefed the Kazekage on everything that went down, the entire story. To say he was intrigued was an understatement.

"It would appear I owe Orochimaru and Itachi for directing us to Sasori, as I understand it."

Hiruzen nodded, "It was as much of a favor to them as it was to you. They're undercover members of the same organization that Sasori was apart of."

"How can you trust them? Given their history…"

Expecting this, Hiruzen dodged that line of conversation, "With all due respect, Lord Kazekage… I do not appreciate being interrogated in my own village about who I'm associated with."

"My apologies…" Rasa backed off, though it was evident on his face he didn't like the secretion of the two rogue ninja involved in all this.

"Now then… Onto the problem at hand, Sasori's associates. I'm hoping the Sand will be willing to assist the Leaf in dismantling an organization known as Akatsuki."

"I can't make any guarantees," Rasa warned, "If Sasori were still alive I would not hesitate. However, he's not—I think you're aware of the Sand village's current economic state; I will not waste valuable resources to combat something we have no stake in. If you were banking on Sasori's involvement being enough to convince us, you're mistaken."

Sarutobi smirked, "If that were my strategy, there would've been no reason to kill Sasori first," he pointed out.

"True," Rasa agreed, "Then why would you think the Sand would be interested in this matter at all?"

"You haven't heard what Akatsuki's goal is yet," The Hokage answered simply.

"And that is?"

"They seek all of the Jinchuriki…"

The Kazekage's eyes widened, "What?"

"It's an organization comprising of ten S-Class shinobi. Thankfully, Orochimaru and Itachi don't count, and with Sasori out of the way, they're down to seven. We have a lot of information gathered on them, which I'll be happy to share with you."

"Why are they after the Jinchuriki? What is their intent?"

The Hokage looked out into space in thought, "We can only speculate on that part; their leader keeps his people on a need to know basis. Orochimaru thinks they want to create a global government and maintain peace through the fear of Biju… But it could be a number of other things; nothing good, I can promise that."

"Their leader," Hiruzen continued, "Possesses the Rinnegan…" He revealed darkly.

"The power of the S-Sage?"

The Fourth Kazekage was by no means a _weak_ individual. He had reigned during the Hidden Sand's toughest era since the early days of the village's foundation, and considering the difficulty of his time's problems, he'd done a damn good job keeping order. From losing his wife to damning Shukaku into his youngest son's being to watching the Wind Daimyo piss away their economy… From a repetition of tumultuous sandstorms to a divisive political field to having to maintain a false image of strength that discourages the other major villages away from their boarder. Rasa could argue that if you don't take wars into account, he'd been tested as much as any reigning Kage from a broad standpoint on the many issues a Kage would deal with. But even when taking all of this into account, the mention of the Rinnegan provoked an uncharacteristic stutter.

"I'm afraid so," Hiruzen nodded, "I can give you a rundown on their entire roster if you wish."

When the Kazekage said nothing, the Hokage decided to get it out of the way so his colleague would recognize the names and see Akatsuki for exactly what it was, the most dangerous threat to the continent's current lapse of peace, "Kakuzu the Bounty Hunter, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara the terrorist bomber; I'm sure you're familiar with all of them. We don't know much about Tobi or Zetsu… They were never heard of before Akatsuki was formed."

"They have a kunoichi named Konan; we aren't certain… But she might be a former student of Jiraiya's, but the Konan he taught was supposed to be dead and neither Orochimaru or Itachi have met her in person yet. Their leader calls himself 'Pein;' there's no telling where he came from, but he's both the Rinnegan user and the mastermind."

"For some reason," Hiruzen wrapped up, "The Akatsuki is supposed to always have ten members; right now they are vulnerable with only seven and we have gathered enough intel to eliminate them. That is why I'm telling you all of this; EVERY village with a Jinchuriki has a stake in this, and if all of us make a move against Akatsuki now we can pull this by the root before they do any damage!"

Rasa stared into Hiruzen's eyes with a focused, contemplative look in his eyes, "How long have you known about this Akatsuki group?"

"Awhile… Since before Orochimaru's 'exile."

"And you have not told any of the other Hidden village's up until right now?"

"No, I haven't even spread the word about them throughout my own… I didn't want Akatsuki to figure out that Orochimaru was my informant. Linking up with Itachi to work against them was an unexpected development, but one that I welcomed."

"Thanks to them, you finally disposed of Sasori… Something your people have wanted for many, many years," The Hokage pointed out, "We need your help… And I can give you my word that I will step aside and let you claim the most credit and publicity when this is all done."

The old Hokage was definitely playing with a full deck, leaving very little room for the Kazekage to find a way to distance the Sand from the conflict. The Third was most certainly not wrong about anything he'd said… When it comes down to it, the Sand did need that publicity, badly just to gain some clients and maybe renew favor with the Wind Daimyo who'd been often using other villages (including the Leaf) for his bidding as opposed to his own Hidden village.

Even more important than the economics, allowing an organization that was planning to target Jinchuriki to roam and lurk until they were ready to take Gaara away was inconceivable… Not to mention the fact that if it were to happen, it would have the exact opposite affect of taking the credit for destroying Akatsuki. Rather than gain clients and attention of their Daimyo… They would be the weak, poor Sand village that was unable to protect their Jinchuriki and more vulnerable than ever.

"You will have my support;" Rasa confirmed simply, it wasn't like not lending it was a true option for him, "It will not be difficult to sway my people to eliminate S-Class criminals that intend to steal the One-tail from Gaara. And you make a compelling case about the potential gain during our economic crisis."

 _Hell yeah, Dad… For once one of these villages is going to do what we ask of them. Way to go…_ Asuma cheered in his head. Honestly, it was ridiculously rare when two Kage came to an agreement on anything important in _one_ discussion, never mind in the same day talks started.

"However, the list of members you offered is imposing… But I trust that you have been planning for a way to combat them for a long time now," The Kazekage gestured.

Baki actually smirked at the prospect of this, it was an opportunity to potentially fix their economy, and he was always in favor of the 'hit two birds with one stone' approach when regarding the fact these ninja were after Gaara anyway. As Gaara's sensei, it would be his pleasure to wreck the plans of some power hungry rogues.

 _I hope you know what you're doing Lord Kazekage…_ Kinyasu thought, _The likes of myself or Pakura will do just fine hunting these bastards, but how many others are up to the task?_ The Sand village didn't have many ninja that could compete with the Leaf's finest. The Third Hokage could use a number of his elites for something this dangerous, after all they had Kakashi of the Sharingan, the Leaf's Green Beast Gai Maito, Snake Mistress Anko, Ino-Shika-Cho, Cloak n' Dagger Kinnoe, apparently Itachi Uchiha unofficially and the three Legendary Sannin.

The Leaf had considerable firepower for this, but the Sand wouldn't have near as many up to the task, and if they _lost_ some of their best in the process they'd take another step back as far as Jonin strength goes. The Fourth was taking a risk, albeit a necessary one perhaps, but that didn't mean the Jishaku had to like it…

The gleam in the Hokage's eyes said it all, "Our plan involves several of the other villages, and with your help… I think we can convince them," The old man stated, his voice soaked with optimism.

Rasa eyed his colleague with interest, wondering what line of thinking his fellow Kage had in convincing the others, "I'm listening."

Folding his hands, the elder Sarutobi present leaned back comfortably in his chair, "Before your village killed Sasori, there was no way I could try to convince any of the large villages to work on this cooperatively. Onoki wouldn't even want to talk at all, the Raikage would feel unthreatened since both of his Jinchuriki are adults and extremely dangerous in a militarized village. And as you know, the Mist is so absorbed in inner conflict that we don't even know what's happening there and they wouldn't be in condition to assist."

"How would my presence change any of their views?" Rasa questioned.

"Well, Onoki would only get more suspicious since we're allied," Hiruzen admitted, "But now we have a full story to use. We can claim to have gathered all of our intel from torturing Sasori before killing him… Whereas before I would've had to dodge inquiries about how I found out so much about them."

"Even if you did admit it, they wouldn't have trusted you."

"Indeed they wouldn't," The Hokage agreed, "But now we have an alternative truth to work with and build off of. Hopefully, with that and two Kage they will be more receptive."

Nodding, Rasa moved on, "So we use diplomacy to try and gain more allies, then what? Why can't we handle things ourselves?"

"The Akatsuki has hideouts all over the place in every country. We need more villages to cooperate so we can raid them all in one go before Pein has a chance to counter. Using what Orochimaru and Itachi know, we can map out the location of every known hideout and also ambush most of their members before their cover is blown."

"They can narrow down almost every member's location to a general area and we will be able to find them and take them out, just the Leaf and the Sand… That way you can take the majority of the credit without complaints of other villages. Everyone else will just be tasked with clearing their country of hideouts for us; their villages can pillage the money and supplies they find."

The Third's plan was solid; it would cripple Pein's operations and set the Akatsuki's plans back for years. According to Orochimaru, Pein kept the bounty money dispersed throughout their numerous hideouts so that the ryo could remain unguarded without running the risk of someone finding a hideout and taking it all. A lot of their cash was just kept in the Hidden Rain though… That said, throwing all the villages a bone to take away the Akatsuki's accumulated funds would be a good blow. If things went smoothly, the funds would be the least of Pein's problems though, as the Leaf and Sand could work together to eradicate their roster. As a side bonus, it might even improve relations with all the other villages slightly… But with the war grudges it was a long shot with any of the other three Great Nations.

"I see," Rasa stated, "This approach could work, but only if your spies intel is as good as you believe."

"I have faith in them, you don't need to worry about legitimacy," The Hokage assured.

"Then we shall discuss this further after the exams?"

"Of course," The Hokage agreed, "The action should be starting soon. I'm curious to see how your son handles himself in a fight, since Itachi was in his place during the preliminaries."

"You won't be disappointed," The Kazekage stated, with a small smirk forging on his lips.

Yugao's focus on their conversation was broken by a weird noise that caused her to turn around and observe the Kage's box confusedly, "Something wrong?" Baki asked, noticing her unease and putting himself on alert.

The two Kage turned to look at her as well, as did Asuma and Rasa's other bodyguard, "Where'd the plant go…" Was all she said, puzzled.

All eyes converged on the now empty flowerpot.

* * *

"Something wrong?" An ANBU questioned his squad mate.

The second shook his head at his partner, "Must be my imagination… Carry on," He permitted and the two took off.

After they disappeared, something emerged from one of the trees, a masked man in a black cloak with red clouds on it, "Zetsu?" Madara called out.

The venus fly-trap like form emerged from the ground revealing Black and White Zetsu, "Aww how do you always know when we're here?" " **Shut up,"** His other half chided.

"What do you have to report?"

White Zetsu seemed as if he was eager to speak but Black Zetsu beat him to the punch, " **It's worse than you feared."**

"How so?"

" **As you predicted, the Hokage filled the Kazekage in about us and asked for help. The Leaf and Sand will unite against us, just like you thought. There were also… Many clear comments that openly referred to Orochimaru and Itachi being informants.** "

"That is of no concern, we already _knew_ they were traitorous," Madara waved off, "What is it that makes you say its worse than I believed?"

" **The Hokage plans to spread all of the information he has on us to the other villages and make deals with them to wipe out our hideouts in the countries those villages reside."**

"What? Something that open? So the Leaf is ready to blow Orochimaru and Itachi's cover are they? Hmm…"

" **Yes, it would seem they want to go on the offensive now. While they believe they hold the element of surprise.** "

Madara chuckled with amusement at that, "Element of surprise you say… Ironic," He mused.

"What are we going to do?" White Zetsu asked.

"You're to continue as planned… The Hokage's left me no choice."

" **Very well,** " Black Zetsu agreed, "One of my clones should be reporting to you soon…" White Zetsu informed.

"Excellent," Madara stated, "Just don't screw this up Zetsu… Do you remember the signal?"

" **Y** e **s,** " Both halves answered.

* * *

Shikamaru Nara stood in the middle of the arena with his hands resting in the pockets of his trench coat. Normally, he'd be idly cloud watching or perhaps conversing with his team… But today was different. Today the Nara didn't have time for his own greatest asset, (or in everyone else in the world's opinion greatest flaw) that asset being his laziness.

Chunin exam finals? Who cares… There're just a drag Anko-sensei was putting him through.

No, the young Nara was focused on the oddity of those around him. He was always the observant type, even if most people didn't notice. Right now his mind was racing because most of the participants had arrived, and something felt amiss to him.

Kin's former teammates for one, were not anything like they'd been in the preliminaries. As much as he complained to Anko that day, he had been paying attention to everyone carefully. It was important that he know as much about each opponent in order to strategize for the potential future matchup each of the other Genin could present.

What he picked up on about Kin's ex-teammates was rather simple. They were a much better tag team than individuals… One wielded an arsenal of Fire Ninjutsu, the other Wind which of course complemented one another perfectly. They were also very talkative, and seemed like really good friends as they were usually conversing with one another. They also despised anyone on Anko's team (with the exception of Kin) and the Jonin herself because their sensei did.

Considering what Anko and Kin told them about Tokuro assaulting her to keep her quiet in a closet, he naturally wasn't a big fan of this lot. He was wary of them, and expected the fools to talk some trash to him while they were waiting around, especially since Shika was the only present member of Team Six, plus he wasn't a confrontational type.

So far, neither of them said much… Neither had cracked a single joke, acknowledged any of their opponents existence and unless Shika's memory was getting hazy after a month without seeing them, he swore they were _standing_ differently. The way he remembered them, one liked to slouch a bit and the other had a tendency to fidget when nothing was going on or no one was talking. Yet the first was standing straight up, and the second mirrored his body language, neither preoccupying themselves with anything but waiting.

While all of this was a little weird, it was possible Shikamaru was imagining things or overanalyzing. Then again, when he glanced at their facial expressions, he noted that neither looked like one would expect of a couple Genin prepared to try and rank up in front of a sold out crowd. There were no real emotions there… No anxiety, determination, nervousness, confidence or any other mood they could take on.

While it was true that ninja can train their emotions and shield them from the outer world… Shikamaru knew neither of these two possessed that quality a month ago. Why would anyone devote time to training that during the one month time allotted for training to prepare for these fights? That would be an idiotic waste of time… They could do something like that _after_ the exams. Which is why the Nara couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right with them. Whatever it was, he doubted he would figure it out.

There was another thing that puzzled him however, Gaara Sabaku of the Hidden Sand village. This dude had been a pain in the ass from the start. The first time they met, he'd been accompanying his Jonin-sensei in a chat with Anko just as Team Six arrived at the tower, finishing the second stage of the exam up. He hadn't said much, only analyzing them… The Jonin, Baki or whatever it was had been a bit strange, seeming a little too interested in some Leaf Genin.

Then in the preliminaries, Gaara had been paired with Tenten and dispatched the Waterfall team in a whopping four seconds. All the Sand Genin did was apply a Wind jutsu to his Leaf kunoichi partner's kunai volley and it was over.

How strong was he? What abilities did he really possess? What skill level was he? What was his specialty? Taijutsu? Ninjutsu? Something else!? Temari and Kankuro didn't exactly fight in the conventional means after all…

But never mind any of that… Why in the hell was Gaara short now?

Before, he'd been much taller, hell he was as tall as the adults. Shikamaru had assumed he was older than this, but apparently he was thirteen. According to the information provided by the officials organizing all the betting on the matches.

All the sudden he was short, and even kind of frail looking. He was more or less Naruto's height now, and the muscles Shikamaru remembered him having were practically nonexistent.

 _What the fuck is going on?_ None of this made any sense! Had Gaara been casting a Genjutsu over himself that entire time to appear more intimidating?

Then why drop it now? _A change of tactics maybe_ … _He's trying to get himself underestimated._ Shikamaru considered.

A familiar voice broke Shikamaru from his flow of thoughts, "Are you and your butt buddy ready to get your asses beat?" Ah, so Kiba and Naruto were finally there. Needless to say, that was Kiba talking. Well, more like harassing Kin's former teammates.

"Not gonna say anything?" Kiba taunted, "It's probably better that way… I may like to bark… But unlike you I don't mind biting too," He informed them, licking his lips Anko-style for good measure.

While Sasuke was high on Kiba's list of people he wanted to pounce on in front of everyone in this arena, these two were tied for the top spot. As far as Kiba was concerned, they were idiotic drones. He was all for camaraderie and loyalty to a sensei… But seriously, what was wrong with these punks? When Kin was missing, the would've rather done nothing than enlist his help despite it being his forte just because he was one of Anko's apprentices.

These dopes don't even know Kiba… or Shikamaru and Naruto for that matter. Yet they hate them that much? Total morons. It didn't help that they had been hostile and untrusting at every opportunity, even making a comment that irritated Ino during their match that put down Team Six. If they wanted to hate Team Six, Kiba was all too willing to give them a reason to!

The two older Genin shared confused looks with one another, as if not knowing what to say. Hell, they looked so lost in that moment you would think they had no Earthly clue who Kiba was. Kiba and Naruto stared at the both of them wondering what was wrong with them, "Guess I left them speechless Naruto…" Kiba snorted, brushing past them.

Naruto gave the both of them an odd look, neither appeared angry or even the least bit annoyed by the encounter. Pushing it aside, the Uzumaki passed by them as well and the two of them joined Shikamaru, "You see tweedledum and tweedledee over there? What the hell was that about…?" Kiba shook his head.

"That was really weird…" Naruto agreed, "I thought they hated us?"

"I was already keeping an eye on them…" Shikamaru admitted, "But yeah, something's not right here."

Not liking he edge in Shikamaru's voice, Naruto decided to dispute and try and put him at ease, "Who knows? Maybe they're giving us the silent treatment so we don't get in their heads or something? I'm sure it's not a big deal, and I'm sure any of us can take those guys one on one. Believe it!"

The Nara nodded, but he wasn't so sure about it personally. He was by no means worried about fighting either of them, if he lost he lost. He didn't really care, honestly. It was something else… Even he wasn't sure what it was exactly.

"They're not the only ones who showed up weird today…" Kiba stated, pointing a finger at Rock Lee who was doing pushups and getting berated for the waste of energy by Tenten.

"I get the feeling he's always like that…" Shikamaru grunted.

"Oi, what the hell happened to you?" A rather suspicious Naruto asked albeit rudely.

"What?" Gaara raised an eyebrow, surprised at being addressed.

"You used to be way taller! What the hell!?" He demanded.

With Danzo and Foundation gone, and Orochimaru having 'fled' the village in the midst of it, their need for using Gaara and Baki to walk freely in the village was no longer necessary. Thanks to Lord Third, they had their completely confidential temporary ANBU status instead, and would be present in the exams as a part of security.

That of course meant Gaara would proceed to the exam finals in person this time and showcase his skills. While Itachi had looked exactly like Gaara thanks to the Facial Copy Jutsu… Height and weight were another story entirely, "Do not concern yourself with it," Gaara left it at.

"Don't concern myself with it?" Naruto deadpanned, "Dude… That ain't natural."

When Gaara chose not to speak any more, Naruto left the poor Sand Genin be, "Whatever…"

* * *

Back with the masked Uchiha, true to White Zetsu's word, a clone emerged from the ground to report in, "What do you have for me?" Madara asked, not interested in having small talk with the plant man.

"Sasuke Uchiha is one of the participants in the exam this year."

"Really?" Madara sounded intrigued, "And how old is the little brother of Itachi now?"

"They had all of his public information available in the betting area, he's twelve years old, and was academy rookie of the year; his Jonin sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

Madara stiffened at the mention of Kakashi briefly but the Zetsu clone was far from the observant type, "Kakashi huh? Unsurprisingly; no one else is around to teach Sasuke how to use the Sharingan. I would like to see his match before we act, inform the clone that's designated to give the signal to wait until then."

"Okay. But what about the other stuff?"

"All I need to know is whether or not Deidara is here yet and if the other clones within the village are doing their job discreetly," The Uchiha put rather bluntly.

"Deidara hasn't come into view yet; so far none of the clones have been caught… And we've located all of the people you asked for, including Itachi and Orochimaru."

"How did you manage that?"

"One of our clones managed to get into the Hokage's tower to gain intel on how the ANBU are organizing their defense of the exams… He discovered that there are two extra ANBU whose identities are being withheld from the rest of ANBU. Two temporary members, Snake and Barracuda."

Madara nodded thoughtfully, "That is more than likely them…" He concurred, "You may leave now."

* * *

"Man… Why'd you have to go and bet on that Kiba kid… He's one of Anko's! Now he's got no chance."

Tsunade smirked back at her former teammate, "Oh shut up! I bet on both of them."

Jiraiya blinked, "What? Both? They won't let you do that…"

"I put a small amount of ryo on Kiba because he's the underdog… while Shizune will place more of my ryo on his opponent of a larger quantity since he's the likely winner. If Kiba wins, the odds are so much lower I'll make more than I lost on the other bet anyway. I can't lose this time!"

"Huh… You're a better gambler than I thought; I guess this means with your luck those two will go out there and knock each other out!"

Tsunade huffed in annoyance, "Whatever…"

* * *

"I am disappointed that you will not be fighting today," Hiashi remarked, each of his daughters sitting with him in the stands.

"I-I'm sorr-ry, father."

Hiashi said nothing, yes he was strict… Yes he was harsh, but it is how he was raised and how all fathers of the main house raised their own. The branch family wasn't much better, honestly, it was just the way of the Hyuga. "You failed to incapacitate an Inuzuka…" He began again, causing his older daughter to look down in shame.

"While I am inclined to admit they are a tough clan up close and personal, they are not supposed to have a chance against a Hyuga clan heir because we use the Jyuuken fighting style. You understand this, don't you?"

Hinata nodded shyly, they had this conversation already. Hiashi had been there to watch the matches of hers and Neji, and he wasn't exactly pleased by her performance or her surrender. "Today, you are to watch Neji… And you will do better next year," he told her. Contrary to the way that phrase sounded, it was encouragement. The way it came out of his mouth made it sound disciplinary.

"Y-Yes father."

"Hanabi," He stated, but got no acknowledgement.

His lips curled in an annoyed fashion, " _Hanabi?_ "

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hanabi awkwardly replied. Scratch that, 'awkwardly' in this instance only justifies the response for a person who was not of the Hyuga clan. On Hyuga standards Hanabi seemed so discomposed that Hiashi forgot what he was going to tell her and just stared at her strangely.

"Are you feeling well…?"

"Yes, thank you for asking father!" Again, strange. She was being too… energetic? In her replies, which was not only weird for Hyuga clansmen but for Hanabi specifically that downright warranted suspicion.

"Act the part then," He scolded, disapproving of her current demeanor. His younger of two daughters just looked at him confused, and Hinata directed a rather similar look to her sister.

 ** _A/N:_** **What the hell are the Akatsuki up to!? Big surprise, I'm not telling :P Though if you read into it you'll notice I've left some hints about various things.**

 **Hiruzen finally looking to go on the offensive against them but it would appear he's not the only one feeling pressed to make a move…**

 **Kinyasu Jishaku is (in my mind) a necessary character I needed to make. There are not that many Sand Jonin (Or Sand characters in general I should say) and idt it's a big deal to make another Magnet Style user as there are people with that kekkei genkai from multiple villages anyway. His weapon probably sounded weird, but you'll understand when you see it in action.**

 **His existence is for the same reason I decided Pakura didn't die, I need Sand characters -_-**

 **I've mentioned Maki before, as some of you may recall… She's the Jonin that had been Pakura's apprentice we got to know a little about during the war in canon. And then there's Baki… There really aren't many options out there. At any rate, he won't be some annoying insertion into the story I promise, hell you guys might like this guy. Unlike Tokuro, Kinyasu actually matters in the future of this story xD**

 **As implied, his appearance in the story unlike canon (besides the obvious fact I made him up in the first place) is due to Pakura still being alive.**

 **With that out of the way, I shouldn't sweep the fact we made it to the Chunin exam finals under the rug huh? Ohh man I'm going to be having fun with these next several chapters. As you all can see, there is something big coming but it's not just these exam fights!**

 **On a side note… How crazy is it that I now have a chapter with no Anko, Orochimaru or Itachi at all? Lol..**

 **'** **Til next time, RnR please :)**


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